2025 Philly Pride March and Festival takes over city streets: "I see nothing but love"
"I see nothing but love, it's crazy out here, but we're all having a great time," Daron Summiel said.
"It feels like equality, it feels like it's what life should be," Dennis Cannady said.
The day started with the Pride March up Walnut Street as participants carried a 600-foot rainbow flag.
"It's really emotional to see everyone come together because sometimes we feel so divided," Angelique Kopacz said.
The streets around 11th and Locust then swelled for the Pride Festival featuring food, music, merchandise and more.
David Weisburg is the chief development officer for the Mazzoni Center, a nonprofit serving the LGBTQ+ community. He said showing up now is more important than ever before.
"After so much progress that's been made over so long, it's scary to think that there are rights that are being threatened," Weisberg said.
Gabrielle Caplan-Mayer came to support her son.
"I think, like many parents of trans kids, we want them just to have the acceptance and dignity of any young person, of any human being," she said.
This year's Pride fest is even bigger than ever, expanding all the way down to Walnut Street, and with picture-perfect skies, organizers are expecting this to be a record turnout.
"I think we have over 200 vendors, over 45 food trucks, 6 or 7, 8 stages, I don't even know anymore, there's so many things going on," Philly Pride 365 producer Jeremy Williams said.
For Williams, these crowds prove pride is here to stay in a very big way.
"Everybody just wants us to be proud. We're all here together to be proud, and the community is growing, it's not shrinking," Williams said.
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Trump Reveals the Cringe Nickname He Calls Melania
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Yahoo
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How Nathan's Famous turned competitive eating into a national spectacle
A plate full of hot dogs is seen during the 2022 Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest on July 4, 2022 in New York City. -Every Fourth of July, starting when she was 15, Jacqueline Lewis and her family come together to honor a great American tradition: the Nathan's Famous hot dog eating competition. 'I think people want to know how many hot dogs a human can eat in that amount of time.' Lewis, now 26, told CNN on a warm June day last year while eating miniature corn dogs (at a leisurely pace) outside of the original Nathan's location in Coney Island. 'I think they want to know.' Advertisement Lewis and her family aren't the only ones who want to see how many franks competitors can scarf down in 10 minutes. Each year, close to two million people watch Nathan's hot dog eating contest on ESPN, according to the frankfurter brand. Tens of thousands of spectators come out to Brooklyn's Coney Island to watch the event in person. Competitors train for months in advance, preparing their bodies to consume thousands of calories in just a few minutes. And the big headline this year: champion eater Joey Chestnut will return to the contest after being barred from competing last year over his deal with Impossible Foods — a plant-based meat company. Chestnut has won the 'Mustard Yellow Belt' 16 times, and once ate a world record 76 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes in 2021. Nathan's, and the marketing visionaries behind the annual event, helped shape competitive eating as we know it today — a bombastic, showy sport that some say symbolizes America's obsession with excess. But eating contests date back. Way back. Advertisement Two men, many ginger cakes It seems like people have always had a fascination with how much someone can eat and how quickly. 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August 1939. - Corbis/Getty Images In the 19th century, there were basically two kinds of contests, explained Adrienne Bitar, a lecturer in American studies at Cornell University and the author of 'Diet and the Disease of Civilization.' There was speed eating — who could eat the most in a set amount of time — and untimed competitions, where the winner was the person who could eat the most, full stop. The foods back then were simpler, and unbranded. People competed over onions, eggs, watermelon and pies. The contests were 'very lighthearted,' she said, and not nearly as physically taxing as they are today — they were 'athletic like a three legged race is athletic.' Advertisement When Nathan's starting putting on its annual event in the 1970s, it looked more like those early contests. At the time, PR mavens Max Rosey and Mortimer Matz thought a hot dog eating competition would drum up some publicity for Nathan's. (They also seem to have made up the legend that the first Nathan's contest was held in 1916). Back then, 'there was still kind of like a local flavor to it … the competitors were mostly just big guys from Long Island,' Fagone told CNN. Contestants would enter, rapidly eat some hot dogs and go back home to their own barbecues, he said. Melody Andorfer was the winner of the first official Nathan's contest in 1972, according to the Coney Island History Project. She ate 12 hot dogs in 5 minutes — beating all other competitors, men and women, she told the non-profit in an interview in 2020. That first year, Nathan's used barrels and a plank of wood to make the competitors table, she recalled. 'They put a white plastic tablecloth there. In front of you, they put on a paper plate hot dogs and no mustard, nothing to drink. Just the hot dogs.' Advertisement A couple of decades later, in the 1990s, brothers George and Richard Shea took over marketing for Nathan's. George Shea, who still hosts the competition, helped turn the homespun event into a gigantic spectacle. Hot dog publicity Americans say the annual competition is about many things: Coney Island, the Fourth of July, patriotism — but the event that kicked off the rise of mainstream competitive eating in the United States is, at its core, about publicity, the man who runs the contest said. 'It is a sport that did not start as a sport. It was a platform for exposure for Nathan's and certainly many other brands in the years that followed,' said George Shea, who co-founded Major League Eating, the professional league that now oversees the competition. Advertisement Shea took over the contest in 1991 when Rosey died. Before Shea stepped in, he said, the contests included a couple of cameras, a handful of competitors and '15 or 20 onlookers who just happened to be passersby and stopped.' George Shea attends 2015 Nathan's Famous 4th Of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest at Coney Island on July 4, 2015 in New York City. - Henry S. Dziekan III/FilmMagic/FilmMagic/Getty Images As host, Shea cultivated a persona designed to hype the event. He stands on stage in a flat-top straw hat and a suit and tie. Leading up to the contest, he makes grand proclamations about life and poetry as dramatic music plays. When announcing competitors, he builds up anticipation, treating the event more like a boxing match than a hot dog eating contest. The act is 'a little bit of Coney Island, it's a little bit of sports reporter, it's a little bit of apocalyptic preacher,' Shea said. 'The whole thing is just fantastic. You get up there, there are no rules, you say and do whatever you want and it's all about getting in motion, expressing the emotion … and universally the reaction I get from people is just 'this is not what I expected and I really love it.'' Advertisement It took a while to bring that performance to the mainstream. About a decade into his tenure as leader of the competition, Shea pitched a story to the LA Times. The ensuing article introduced the idea to a new part of the country, he said. After that, Shea signed deals for a documentary and TV special — just as superstar Takeru Kobayashi came onto the scene in 2001 and 'blew it open,' Shea said. 'It was coincidental and very mutually beneficial. The timing was very good because he had enormous star power,' Shea said. The first year he participated in the contest, Kobayashi ate 50 hot dogs — nearly double the 2000 winner. Twenty-three year-old Takeru Kobayashi of Japan raises his hands in victory July 4, 2001 at the 86th annual Nathan's Famous International 4th of July Hot Dog Eating Contest at Coney Island in Brooklyn, NY. 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Despite the heat, there were lines at both Nathan's locations, where people waited for the famous hot dogs and crinkle-cut french fries. 'We love the Nathan's hot dog eating competition because we love how it brings the city together,' Fellman said, standing with a group of her friends, all wearing Nathan's hot dog eating contest T-shirts. 'It celebrates a beautiful American comfort food that is the hot dog.' Advertisement This article has been updated with new information that Joey Chestnut will return to the Nathan's Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest in 2025. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at
Vogue
30 minutes ago
- Vogue
The Summer Work Bags Vogue Editors Use Everyday
There are a few wardrobe staples that can make a break a workwear outfit, especially when being fashion-forward (yet functional) is the main objective. Chief among them are the right shoe, be it a walkable sandal or stylish sneaker, the perfect trousers, both for comfort and for commuting, and the right work bag. Vogue's Favorite Summer Work Bags: Styles that balances practicality with personality are key, and the totes you'll find perched by our desks blend polished design with real-world utility—fitting laptops, notebooks, beauty essentials, and even a pair of kitten heels for post-office events and meetings. They need to be spacious, but not too big for lugging onto the train, nor too heavy to carry up several flights of stairs. And, they need to be on-trend without being overtly so—who wants to damage a precious new piece? Some prefer a designer from a specific era, like Phoebe Philo's Celine—a legacy shaped over ten years, from 2008 to 2017. Others would take anything from Mary-Kate and Ashley's The Row, a coveted brand known for the longevity and timelessness of its accessories. Think of buttery leathers, clean lines, and subtle luxury—bags that whisper style rather than shout it. Whether it's a structured top-handle bag or a slouchy bucket style, these carryalls reflect the editor's curated life: always sophisticated and always prepared to work. Ahead, shop the summer work bags that Vogue editors use for the office, and beyond. Libby Page, Vogue executive shopping director I am a true Phoebe fan and am forever scouring for her oldie-but-goodie heritage bags. In the summer, I wear a lot of white cotton, and I love the way this burgundy style will pop against any full-white look. It's sturdy and very roomy for a crossbody bag, perfect for work. The two-tone tote I have had on my wish list since well...2010, when it launched, between this and the Bottega Andiamo, they're the perfect laptop-friendly-but-still-chic bags! Lastly, this little Loewe. I hate riffling through handbags for keys, wallet, phone, cash, so I'll throw them across my body to have them easily accessible. Celine Box medium classic box flap bag $2,295 FASHIONPHILE Celine Trapeze medium tri-color bag $795 FASHIONPHILE Bottega Veneta Ciao Ciao medium bag $4,995 FASHIONPHILE Loewe Pebble dice pocket bag $725 FASHIONPHILE Madeline Fass, associate fashion director For the days you don't need to carry a computer, The Row's Park tote in small is the perfect little bucket bag. With an open top and roomy interior, it fits all of your everyday necessities and can take you from day to night because while it's tote-shape, it doesn't come across as a 9-to-5 commuter bag. I love this green shade, we shot the larger size for a springaccessory story a few seasons back and have had my eye on it ever since. The Hermès Garden Party tote, however, will forever be on my wish list. It's timeless, classic, and does fit that laptop. Cortne Bonilla, senior shopping writer I've never been a small bag kind of gal—if anything, the bigger the better! My work bags have quickly transitioned into my everyday bags thanks to my desire to carry everything dear to me. Whether I have a brand dinner after work or a Pilates reformer class beforehand, I'd rather strengthen my shoulders than carry several bags at once. Vintage Bottega Veneta bags are my thing—I own several shoulder bags and totes already. There's plenty of room inside for a pair of emergency ballet flats, an army of lip glosses, sunglasses, my laptop, and a pair of leggings, if needed. The same can be said for Khaite's Frida tote—it's the perfect shape for a small computer.
