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| Cities, towns and parks light up in the South | ||||||||||
| Published: May/June 2003 |
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| On July 4 in Little Rock, Pops on the River combines music by the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra with brilliant fireworks over the Arkansas River at Riverfront Park. On the northern bank, view the fireworks and enjoy an audio simulcast. Concessions will be available. This event is free. For information, contact the North Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau, 1-800-643-4690 or visit www.northlittlerock.org online. Little Rock’s Convention and Visitors Bureau can be reached by calling 1-800-844-4781 or click on www.littlerock.com. Small towns throughout Arkansas will throw Independence Day parties. For 15 years, the town of Nashville in southwest Arkansas has hosted the July 4th Stand up for America festival in the city park. This event recognizes veterans and will offer plenty of patriotic music, plus other musical entertainment by local and national musicians, plus fireworks. Call the chamber of commerce at (870) 845-1262 for ticket information or click on www.nashvillear.com. Some July 4 celebrations have an historical twist. At the Arkansas Post Museum near Gillett, An 1804 Fourth of July is planned for 10 a.m. July 4. Museum Director Pete Jordon said he’ll try to re-create the type of Independence Day observance Arkansasans would have experienced following the Louisiana Purchase in this first-ever event. There will be a reading of the Declaration of Independence, Colonial games for children–such as sack races or horseshoes–and celebratory toasts. There’s no fireworks because settlers didn’t have bottle rockets in the 19th century. They might have whooped it up by gathering a small pile of gunpowder on an anvil and wacking it with a hammer, according to Jordan. Tastings and copies of an ice cream recipe from Thomas Jefferson will be available. Jordon said it’s a bit syrupy for ice cream but otherwise delicious. This event is free. For more information, contact the museum at (870) 548-2634 or click on www.arkansas.com. Events are planned for some of Arkansas’s state parks. At DeGray Lake Resort State Park in Bismarck, the Independence Day Island Festival on July 4 will include a volleyball tournament, horseshoe tournament, putting contest, free-throw tournament, watermelon eating contest, and activities for children. A fireworks display over the lake commences at dusk. This event is free, but donations for the fireworks will be accepted. For more information, call the park at (501) 865-2801 or click on www.degray.com. Louisiana As in Arkansas, history will be part of Louisiana’s Independence Day celebrations. One of the best places to watch history come alive is Vermilionville, an Acadian living history museum in Lafayette. Vermilionville observes the Fourth of July with a southwest Louisiana flair, said Anne Laughlin, marketing manager. The museum is comprised of several historic and replicated buildings that together re-create the old city of Lafayette. It’s fitting, then, that a Fourth of July festival will borrow traditions from 1765 to 1890. There will be children’s games–including marbles made of river clay and Spanish moss jump ropes–music and barbecue. “It wouldn’t be the Fourth of July anywhere without barbecue,” Laughlin said. The July Celebration will be from 11 a.m.–3:30 p.m. on July 4. Admission is $5; children 6 and younger are free. For more information call Vermilionville, (337) 233-4077. A rip-roaring street festival can also be a great way to spend July 4th. If this is for you, head to Shreveport for its third annual July 4th Celebration on Independence Day. Downtown’s Festival Plaza will be packed with food booths, musical stages, a children’s area, arts and crafts and more. The festivities get underway at 4 p.m. and last until 11 p.m. Fireworks on the Red River start at 9 p.m. This event is free. A free shuttle from Shreve City Mall will run throughout the event. For more information, call Jeri Cobb with the city of Shreveport at (318) 673-7708. Mississippi For 16 years, Greenville has celebrated America with a downtown event at Schelben Park. Music–featuring local and national acts–food, and fireworks get underway at 6 p.m. on July 4. The event is free. Call the chamber of commerce, (662) 378-3141, for more information. The All-American Family Picnic will be July 4 in Tupelo. At press time, festivities will kick off at 5 p.m. in Ballard Park. Children’s activities and food will precede the Tupelo Symphony Orchestra’s performance at 8 p.m., with fireworks at 10 p.m. If you choose, bring your own picnic. The event is free. For more information, call (662) 841-6440. Not all aerial effects begin and end with a bang. In Ridgeland, for example, the Celebrate America Balloon Glow on July 4 at Northpark Mall will feature 40 hot air balloons. The glow, which kicks off the weekend-long Mississippi Championship Hot Air Balloon Festival, gets underway at dusk. The event is free. For more information, call Ridgeland’s parks and recreation department, (601) 853-2011 or click on www.ridgelandms.org. Call the Canton, Miss., parks department for information on the balloon festival, (601) 859-4358. |
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