Hamilton is hosting an outdoors concert and Middletown’s Parade Committee is organizing a driving July 4 parade.
Music ‘brings people together’
Hamilton’s Independence Day fireworks will be launched at 10 p.m. July 4 from the Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park because that offers best viewing from several locations, said city spokesman Brandon Saurber.
Prime viewing locations for the fireworks will be Miami University’s Hamilton campus, the Joyce Park soccer fields, Kevin Lodder Park, Officer Bob Gentry Park and the Booker T. Washington Community Center, he said.
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Leading up the fireworks, a concert from 5:30-10 p.m. will be held at RiversEdge amphitheater in Marcum Park, said Adam Helms, promoter of RiversEdge. Unlike most concerts that are free there, Helms said tickets are being sold in hopes attendees will social distance. People can purchase “seating squares” that measure 8-feet by 8-feet, he said.
People will be allowed to leave, purchase food and drinks from the food trucks on Dayton Street, then return to the concert, he said.
He said measures are in place to keep spectators and volunteers safe.
Helms believes music “bringing people together” and that’s especially important during these “uncertain times in our country.”
‘A great way to celebrate our freedom’
A Middletown church and Team Fastrax, a Middletown-based professional skydiving team, are collaborating on a pyrotechnics show July 3.
BOOM (Blessings Over Our Middletown) will start at 9:30 p.m. at Berachah Church, 1900 Johns Road, said Pastor Lamar Ferrell. He said the show will include skydivers, a flag drop and a 30-minute patriotic pyrotechnics show from the air.
The event is free and open to the public. People are encouraged to bring lawn chairs.
Ferrell said since the city cancelled its July 4 fireworks show Berachah and Team Fastrax wanted to provide entertainment for residents.
“This is a great way to celebrate our freedom,” Ferrell said.
Middletown Mayor Nicole Condrey, a member of Team Fastrax, said the fireworks are strapped to the legs of the skydivers and they’re set off as skydivers float through the air. She said during some past pyrotechnics performances — when there appears to be a trail of flames in the air — there have been calls of UFO sightings to local police departments.
Middletown’s driving parade on July 4 is called “Proud to be en American: Perseverance through the Pandemic” and will feature more than 100 cars, said Jeri Lewis, parade chair.
She said no one will walk during the parade and the lengthy route will give residents plenty of opportunities to view the parade from their yards or business parking lots.
“This is not a small moving parade,” Lewis said.
Instead of presenting awards to floats as in the past, the parade committee has encouraged businesses to decorate their windows and awards will be voted on after the parade.
‘Red, White & Kaboom’
Fairfield residents will have a chance to see a shorted Red, White & Kaboom fireworks show at 10 p.m. July 3 at Harbin Park, said Tiphanie Howard, director of Parks and Recreation.
There will be no city-sponsored events nor watch parties and parks will close at dusk, she said.
“The cost-savings with reducing our show, we can reinvest into a larger-caliber shell to get them higher in the air so we can get a broader audience,” she said.
People can listen to the simulcast on 92.9 JACK FM.
JULY 4TH HOLIDAY EVENTS
Friday, July 3
Blessings Over Our Middletown (BOOM), 9:30 p.m., pyrotechnics show featuring Team Fastrax, Berachah Church, 1900 Johns Road.
Fairfield Red, White & Kaboom fireworks show, 10 p.m., Harbin Park.
Saturday, July 4
Middletown's Proud to be an American driving parade, 9 a.m.: Line up entering back of Smith Park; 10 a.m.: Leave front entrance Smith Park. Route: left on Verity Parkway to Breiel Boulevard; right on Breiel and turning around; left on Central Avenue; left on Main Street; left on Lafayette Ave; left on Verity Parkway.
Hamilton's concert: 5:30-10 p.m., RiversEdge amphitheater in Marcum Park. Musical lineup: 5:30 p.m.: Jordan Wood; 7 p.m.: Linus Tate; 8:30 p.m.: Brass Owl.
Hamilton's fireworks: 10 p.m. Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park.
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