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Article snippet: PHILADELPHIA — Not every street in America deserves a birthday party, but this city chose to honor its 100-year-old Benjamin Franklin Parkway on Thursday with a mesmerizing centennial celebration. Hundreds gathered at sunset to catch a public art performance by the Chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang that filled the grand boulevard, originally modeled after the Champs-Élysées in Paris, with a fleet of rickshaw-style pedicabs festooned with 1,000 handmade paper lanterns. They appeared as flying fireflies, as the bicyclists bobbed and wove in choreographed patterns. The event, titled “Fireflies,” lasted only 20 minutes but generated a feel-good response. At its conclusion, the crowd flooded the street to congratulate the drivers and take selfies with the funky decorated vehicles. “Even if you weren’t expecting to enjoy it, it was just so charming and it made you laugh,” said Lauren Raske, 31, an event planner who came out to view the event. She said she particularly enjoyed the quirkiness of the Chinese lanterns, which included traditional stars and spheres as well as aliens and U.F.O.s, movie cameras and high-heeled shoes, pandas and roosters, even a Yellow Submarine. “It’s a nighttime activity and the mystique of the evening makes it a little romantic,” said Nicole Dugan, a physical therapist who brought her daughter and a group of friends with her. “Even on this small scale, it was really spectacular.” Mr. Cai, who has lived and worked in the United States since the 19... Link to the full article to read more