Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.
Tuesday, March 19
The Indiana Daily Student

Local 4th of July festivities include fireworks, parade

Fourth of July weekend is not to be missed in ?Bloomington.

Speedway

The festivities kick off Friday with the Bloomington Speedway Annual Fireworks Show. The racing event begins at 7:30 p.m. with a fireworks display afterwards. Currently serving military, veterans and children younger than 12 receive free admission. College students receive a discount. General admission is $15.

Parade

On Saturday morning, the celebrations will begin with patriotic music played by the Bloomington Community Band. The ?45-minute performance will start at 9 a.m. on the south lawn of the city courthouse.

The annual Fourth of July Parade will then take place at 10 a.m. Before the actual parade starts, the Bloomington Northside Exchange Club will hand out fliers to the children along the route. They will be followed by a local Boy Scout troop carrying a large flag. After completing the route, the scouts will perform a flag folding ceremony next to the judging table in front of Fountain Square Mall.

Around the same time, a color guard will play Taps and perform a 21-gun salute to officially start the parade.

The parade will begin at the intersection of Seventh Street and Indiana Avenue. It will then head west on Seventh Street. The second half of the route stretches down Kirkwood Avenue, beginning at College Avenue and ending at Indiana Avenue.

“This year we had over 100 entries in the parade, including emergency vehicles,” said Bill Ream, the community events coordinator for the city’s Parks and Recreation Department. “It’s one of the biggest parades we’ve ever had. It should be lots of fun.”

The parade will feature 25 different kinds of floats along with various walking groups, dance groups and musical performances. Spectators will also get to see classic cars, members of the Monroe County Saddle Club and old fire trucks.

Ream estimated it will take around 45 minutes to an hour for all of the parade participants to complete the loop.

He said the event normally draws a crowd of 6,000 to 8,000 people, so it is recommended families arrive early to find spot. Ream noted Seventh Street is a good place to look for people hoping to get away from the crowd.

For people interested in hearing about the floats as they pass, there will be announcement stands set up in front of Fountain Square Mall and in front of the Monroe County Public Library.

Parade-goers are advised to park at the parking garage located at Fourth Street and College Avenue and the Atwater parking garage. Because the garage at Seventh and Walnut streets is along the parade route, it will be closed off early in the day and is not recommended for parking.

The parade will take place rain or shine, but if the weather turns particularly severe, people are advised to call the community events hotline at (812) 349-3754 to learn whether the parade will happen.

Fireworks

A Fourth of July fireworks display will happen at the Monroe County Fairgrounds Saturday night. The gates will open at 6 p.m. Admission is free, but donations are welcome. All donations will be used solely to purchase fireworks.

“In fact, the entire event is operated on donations and volunteers as a way to give back to the community,” the Monroe County Fairgrounds website reads. “The men orchestrating the fireworks are donating their labor and time, food vendors are giving back a portion of their profit to the firework fund and the bands are playing for free!”

The live entertainment, provided by the Doc Mull South Band and the Chad Russ Band, and food sales will begin at 7:15 p.m. The display will last around 35 minutes.

Get stories like this in your inbox
Subscribe