Fourth of July festivities set to kick off

Champaign-Urbana will kick off Independence Day celebrations with Saturday’s Fourth of July celebration parade. But, this bash is not only for the parade goers, but also includes a 5-K run, live music, food and an evening full of fireworks.

The annual Champaign County Freedom Celebration will begin on Saturday, July 4th at 9:30 am, and festivities will go until 9:45 pm, with post fireworks entertainment. Each year, the parade and events are put together and run by the Champaign County Volunteer Committee. Several people are in charge of different sections of the celebration, but one in particular, Eileen Morris, has been involved for several years and, this year, will be in charge of the parade.

“At the first of the year we plan out everything and then I have to get people to help me,” Morris said of the early planning for the event. “In April we sent out 343 letters to people to see if they want to be entries in the parade. This is actually my second year as parade coordinator, but I have been off and on the committee since 1993.”

The parade is a big operation for the city of Champaign and has always been a community event. The parade and fireworks sections of the celebration will feature vendors and concession stands.

“We have all together seven or eight vendors and I think seven of those are food. One of those is a merchandise vendor,” said Mary Dennis, the vendors/concessions coordinator for the parade. “In terms of vendors, Blues Barbeque, Wayne’s Kettle Corn and Papa John’s Pizza are a few that will be there.”

The Independence Day celebration will begin with the annual 5-K run, which will start and finish at Assembly Hall. There are races for youth and adult runners, as well as walkers.

Along with races, games, and food, there will also be live music by The Brat Pack, which will take place at 7 p.m. at Dodds Park, near Parkland College. This will also be the site of the fireworks display, which is provided by Melrose Pyrotechnics.

With all of the events that will go on this weekend, the Champaign County Police and U of I Police will be partnering together in order to keep everyone safe. The fireworks area will have marked off areas to keep spectators out of the way of the explosions. The police will also be around the parade to make sure everything goes smoothly.

“We will be out making sure that people along the route are not causing problems as far as consuming too much alcohol or throwing things at people in the parade,” said Lieutenant Roy Acree of the U of I Police Department.

With nearly 50,000 people watching the fireworks last year, Acree expects this year to be nothing less.

“When we get that many people in a relatively small area it just takes time for traffic to empty out,” he said. “The big thing is to just be patient. We will get you out in a timely manner and it should be a good time for everybody.”

The parade route will be closed at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday for the 5-K race to begin. There will be grassy areas throughout the route for people to watch the parade, which begins on Lincoln Avenue and ends on First Street. Parking will be available in designated areas around Dodds Park for fireworks viewers.