4th of July festival returns to town
A longtime local tradition is set to return to its roots in the heart of Lawrence. Enlarge video
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The makings of quite a party are shaping up in downtown Lawrence for this Independence Day.
The Lawrence Jaycees announced Wednesday that they will move the community’s annual Fourth of July fireworks show back downtown so it can be held in conjunction with a new festival featuring food from locally owned restaurants.
“It should be a great place to be on the Fourth of July,” said Rick Bellinger, a member of the Lawrence Jaycees and one of the event’s organizers.
And fireworks will just be part of the fun.
Downtown on July 4 will host the Tour of Lawrence, a new professional cycling event that will race through the main streets of downtown. The bike race also will include a special kids zone that will feature inflatable rides and other attractions near Ninth and Massachusetts streets.
Then at 3 p.m., Lawrence Originals — a group of 16 locally owned, nonchain restaurants — will host a festival in Watson Park that will include food, drinks and live music. The event will run through the fireworks performance, which is expected to begin about 9 p.m.
All in all, several thousand people are expected to be downtown on Independence Day.
“People will be able to watch some racing, listen to some great music, eat some great food, and then watch some great fireworks,” said Bob Sanner, director of sports and conventions for the Lawrence Convention and Visitors Bureau. “And they’ll probably only have to travel about a half-mile, if that, to do it all.”
Fireworks return to downtown after a one year stint at Sesquicentennial Point at Clinton Lake. But unlike past years, Burcham Park won’t be the center of the show.
Instead, Bellinger said the launching area for the fireworks — which is on the Kansas River levee — will be moved closer to the Kansas River bridges. That will allow the show to be viewed from Watson Park and Constant Park, both of which are near Sixth and Kentucky streets.
“Burcham Park is not going to be the place to be this year,” Bellinger said. “There will be a little bit of viewing area at Burcham, but not much.”
Bellinger said the size of the show also may be different this year. He said the group has raised only about $10,000 for the event — with the bulk of the money coming from the restaurant group. Normally, the Jaycees spend about $15,000 on the show.
Comments
kmat 4 years ago
Yes!!! Now I get to see them while sitting in my yard. Just wasn't the same last year.
Alexander Neighbors 4 years ago
about time the city let you do something Fun !!
Ami 4 years ago
I still don't understand where would be the best place to sit and watch the firwarks. Watson park is pretty big and full of trees.
merrill 4 years ago
Sounds fun to me. Food,beverage,fireworks and fun. Works for us. YES!
ukillaJJ 4 years ago
The idea of having the fireworks at Clinton Lake was bad. I would much rather have a bunch of drunk people walking downtown than having a bunch of drunk people driving out to the lake.
amyc 4 years ago
Thank you!!!!
Raider 4 years ago
Let's just hope they put on a decent display. Compared to some of the other ones in the area, the Jaycees show is pretty weak. You get better fireworks at a Royals game on a random Friday night.
that being said.,....
this is great! I'm glad they brought it back downtown. It's even more exciting that they are having a festival in conjunction with it. This will be a fun 4th of July. Now if they would just lift the personal fireworks ban.... :-)
Ceallach 4 years ago
Good job, planners! Sounds like a winning plan. Family, friends, food and fireworks . . . woo hoo!
townie79 4 years ago
YES fireworks are back downtown!!
in the past i've enjoyed watching them from atop the parking garage...well...until the Hobbs-Taylor loft buildings went up.
kmat 4 years ago
Ami - sitting on the river levee will be a great place to watch them.
d_prowess 4 years ago
I agree that the shows tend to be lame, but I think that is mostly because they rely on donations throughout the year to put on the show.
That said though, I don't really know what the Jaycees do to actually raise money for this event. I have never heard of any type of fundraisers or seen any collection boxes at stores or anything. It seems to me that a better, more visible, job could be done to raise money for this event.
yankeelady 4 years ago
Wonderful. Now all we need to do is bring back the Independence Days festival. That was great.
GardenMomma 4 years ago
Independence Days was fun. And when the fireworks move back to the stadium it will be just like old times!
Too bad that probably won't happen.
I suppose the levee will be a good place to watch. Try and find a place to park across the river though!
sherbert 4 years ago
I love the idea of a festival, but downtown is not the best location, it's too tight and won't flow well for a huge crowd, I'm staying far away!
Mike Blur 4 years ago
So I guess the claims of "safety concerns" cited downtown were completely bogus. The move out to Clinton Lake last year was motivated by a select group of persons that were concerned about the "diversity" of the downtown crowd. I suggested that last year, and Kealing deleted my comment. He knew it was true, and could not handle it.
Either the "safety concerns" cited last year were completely bogus, or the CVB believes that downtown commerce trumps public safety. So, Jon, Chad, and LJW, which one is it?
humblecommentator 4 years ago
The stadium and Campanille Hill were great. It's never been much good since the move. We liked the lake better than downtown.
tangential_reasoners_anonymous 4 years ago
calls for a return to "the stadium" only a mention of "the hill" we all know it was best below the Campanile
redmoonrising 4 years ago
What fun! Large crowds, little parking, stumbling around parks in the dark, and no traffc backup on 6th street. Makes sense to dump a bunch of people who might have been partying a bit too much into such a confined area. Let's put a big ole fence around the whole thing to contain the herd. If I had small children, I would stay as far away as possible. Bah humbug. In all honesty though, I haven't attended a fireworks display since they took them away from the stadium.
DRsmith 4 years ago
Big deal, Lawrence 4th of July celebrations will still be lame until they make fireworks legal again.
cowboy 4 years ago
Spot On Drsmith , Used to have huge family / neighborhood parties every year as did most of the city. Lawrence is a ghost town on the fourth now.
gsxr600 4 years ago
Good stuff.
sinverguenza 4 years ago
Yay!
jackpot 4 years ago
My service dog is happy! He can go to the front yard and see the fireworks. Yes he knows right where to look.
jayhawkerjoel 4 years ago
The traffic and parking was absolutely ridiculous last year. I am not sure that the planners for the Sesquicentennial Park realized how poor the parking would be for a moderate crowd of a few thousand people. We had just returned from a vacation at Disney World and it's hard to enjoy any local fireworks after watching Illuminations at Epcot. But, the Jaycees do what they can and I think anyone who complains about the show should be in charge of the organizing the event and necessary fund raising. Thanks Jaycees for all the work you provide for this free community event!
oneforall 4 years ago
THANK GOD IT'S GOING TO BE DOWN TOWN THIS YEAR..
Sigmund 4 years ago
How many downtown business are secretly hoping their roof catches on fire and the building burns to the ground so they can collect on the insurance that Hack sold them? I'm guessing 3.
flamingoroad 4 years ago
Thank you for bringing the fireworks back downtown!! That's where it should be -- Much better than out at Clinton Lake. Of course it was great when it used to be in the stadium too.
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