Communities celebrating the Fourth with fireworks, music
Local communities will be hosting events on July 4 to celebrate Independence Day.
Farmington
Fireworks Over Farmington! returns Thursday night for an evening of patriotic fun and celebration. The annual fireworks show begins at 9 p.m. behind Ragsdale Field in Engler Park.
Prior to the fireworks, free games, live music, and bounce houses will entertain the crowd from 6-9 p.m. The live music is being provided by Shannon Cox and the Black Diamond Band. The band, made up of Shannon Cox, Mike Horn, Brad Goodwin and Mike Tawfall, have opened for many headline acts over the years, including Diamond Rio, Brad Paisley, Chely Wright, Clay Walker, Blake Shelton, Black Hawk, Waylon Jennings, Sam Hunt, Ray Price and Aaron Tippin.
In 2015, Cox performed on the Grand Ole Opry during Vince Gill’s segment on the show. In the past two years, Black Diamond has backed up Daryle Singletary, Darryl Worley and Matt Kennon. In 2018, they opened the show at the Civic Center for Granger Smith and Ashley McBride.
The event is free and open to the public.
Bismarck
The Bismarck Fire Department will hold the annual Freedom Festival tonight and Thursday.
Various food and craft vendors will be at the festival. The first night’s events will kick off on the school campus at 5 p.m. with Roy Whaley and Ambush taking the stage and playing live music until 7 p.m. at which time American Bluegrass Drive will begin playing for the remainder of the first festival night. The silent auction begins tonight at 5 p.m. and ends at 7:30 p.m. Thursday. A barbecue contest and a Color Fun Run are part of the night’s events.
On Thursday, the day’s festivities will begin with a parade at 10 a.m. Lineup will be at 9 a.m. by the churches on Veterans Drive near Spruce Street. The parade will travel down Veterans Drive, make a left onto East Main Street, and travel toward City Hall. The parade will then make a left on Center Street and head back toward the school.
Events will open after the parade, with the VFW Flag Raising Ceremony at 11 a.m. There will be contests, games, music and fireworks on Thursday.
Buddy Dee’s and the Cruisers will begin entertaining event-goers with live music from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. followed by Levi Burton taking the stage until 3 p.m. The third band to perform will be Those One Guys who will play until 5 p.m. at which time Jim N I will take over playing music until 7 p.m.
The band Deja Vu will round out the day’s live music playing up until the start of the fireworks display which begins at 9 p.m.
If anyone has any questions regarding the event, they can contact John Colwell at 573-315-8718 or Sally Colwell at 573-315-1448.
Park Hills
Festivities for Park Hills’ Fourth of July celebration will begin at 6 p.m. Thursday.
The Party Pro DJs will get things started at the Park Hills Sports Complex playing hits from different genres. They will play music from 6 p.m. until fireworks begin at 9 p.m.
Each year, residents line the sides of Main Street and surrounding streets to witness the large fireworks display that Park Hills offers.
Park Hills is known for its large fireworks show but City Administrator Mark McFarland said that this year, the city’s fireworks display may be longer and better than last year’s display as they ordered fireworks early and were able to get more for the same amount of money they normally spend.
The concessions stand at the sports complex will be open throughout the evening. There will also be a Kona Ice stand cooling off event-goers as well as a Grandma’s Sugar Shack serving up crowd favorite funnel cakes.
McFarland said that the police will be coordinating the traffic for the evening and have tweaked their approach this year to get people in and out of the area more efficiently.
Bonne Terre
Bonne Terre Chamber of Commerce will also be hosting Fourth of July activities which will begin at 5 p.m. Thursday at the city park.
This year’s event entitled “Light Up the Sky” will feature live music performed by the Johnathan Braddy Band. The band will take the stage at 5 p.m and play until fireworks begin just after sunset.
The fire department will be firing up their grills and serving barbecue from 5 p.m until the start of the fireworks. Barbecue items, including brats, burgers, hot dogs, and pulled pork, will be on the menu with sides of nachos, chips, and drinks. Proceeds from the day’s barbecue sales will benefit the fire department.
In order to help event patrons beat the heat, there will be a Kona Ice stand in the park, as well as beer stands.
Arriving a bit early to both events is encouraged as parking will become limited in certain areas.
The Independence Day celebration begins Wednesday night on the Bismarck School campus and continues through tonight. There will be contests, music, and vendors, as well as the fireworks at 9 p.m.
Local communities plan for their mid-summer celebration of freedom as Independence day approaches.
