The region will celebrate Independence Day in a number of different ways this year, with everything from parades to road races.
Lynn
There will be a block party on Fays Avenue, along with a parade that will take place on the corner of Fays Avenue and go to Spring Pond Field.
The party will include races, an egg toss, water-balloon games, face painting, balloon artists, and a dunk tank. Ward 2 City Councilor Obed Matul will be dunked, along with some other public officials. The event will start at 9 a.m. and end at noon.
Lynnfield
The Lynnfield Athletic Association will hold a July 4 road race at the Town Common starting at 9 a.m.
There are no official town activities on July 4 and departments in Town Hall, including Public Works, the Senior Center, and Lynnfield Public Library, will be closed on Thursday, July 4, and Friday, July 5. They will reopen on Monday, July 8.
Marblehead
The Marblehead Festival of Arts will be going on throughout the holiday weekend, starting on July 3 and ending on July 7.
The Harbor Illumination festival is scheduled to start at 9 p.m. on July 4, when flares are lit all around the perimeter of the harbor, setting the stage for the main event. At 9:15 p.m., fireworks will be launched off a barge at the mouth of Marblehead Harbor, creating ideal viewing opportunities for the public from the parks at Fort Sewall, Chandler Hovey Park, and Crocker Park, as well as from boats. Boaters should take the rising tide into consideration when anchoring for the fireworks.
From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., there will be an artisan’s marketplace on the upper grounds of Abbot Hall.
Between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., there will be chamber music at Abbot Hall. Between 10 and 5 p.m., the Logo Store will be open at Abbot Hall and Old Town House. Between 10 and 1 p.m., there will be model-boat building at the Jeremiah Lee Mansion Gardens.
From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., there will be a street festival at Bank Square through Washington Street, from Lee Mansion to Darling Street. From noon to 3:30 p.m. and 6 to 10 p.m., there will be concerts at Crocker Park. At 1 p.m., there will be a Literary Festival at the Unitarian Universalist Church. From 3 to 4 p.m., there will be a Model Boat Regatta at Redd’s Pond at the intersection of Norman Street and Pond Street.
Nahant
On Thursday, July 4 there will be a Tortoise and the Hare Road Race between 7:30 and 10 a.m. There will be a 3-mile race for adults and 1-mile road race for kids.
Between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m., there will be a three-legged race, a 50-yard dash, an egg toss, and other games at the soccer field behind the fire station.
Between 5 and 10 p.m., there will be a wharf party and fireworks. Mojo Slim will provide music for the evening, and there will be food trucks selling traditional American Fourth of July food.
Fireworks will be shot from Bailey’s Hill between 8:30 and 9 p.m. The event will cause certain road closures and parking bans.
Peabody
Each ward city councilor is hosting their own Fourth of July celebration around the city.
Ward 1 residents are invited to a patriotic parade at 9:45 a.m. at Raddin Park. The lineup for the parade will start at 9:30 a.m. on the corner of Blair Terrace and Lynnfield Street.
Ward 2’s celebration is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Welch School and adjacent to O’Connor Park. The day will begin with the singing of the national anthem and a patriotic parade at 9:15 a.m. at the front of the school. Attendees are encouraged to bring decorated bikes, tricycles, scooters, wagons, or carriages.
Ward 3’s celebration will take place at Connelly Park from 9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. The day will start with a patriotic children’s parade. Attendees are encouraged to decorate their bikes, strollers, scooters, or wagons to participate.
Ward 4 will be celebrating the holiday at Emerson Park starting at 9:30 a.m. The morning will begin with the Pledge of Allegiance and national anthem, followed by a patriotic children’s parade, DJ, races and games, arts and crafts, face painting, a bounce house, an egg toss, hot dogs, hamburgers, and Treadwell’s Ice Cream, as well as a few other surprises.
Ward 5’s celebration will be held from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Lt. Ross Park. A bicycle, tricycle, and carriage parade will start at the Kiley Brothers Memorial School at 9 a.m. and attendees are encouraged to decorate for a patriotic theme. The parade to Lt. Ross Park will be escorted by a police vehicle.
Ward 6’s celebration will take place from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Symphony Park. The event will begin at 9 am with a patriotic parade of carriages, wagons, tricycles, and bicycles looping around the park. Entries should have a patriotic theme. Registration for the parade will start at 8:30 a.m.
Saugus
On July 4, on the field of the Lynnhurst Elementary School, there will be a block party with classic Fourth of July food, such as hot dogs and Popsicles.
For children at the block party, there will be a “most patriotic” costume contest, a potato sack race, a three-legged race, a tug of war, a haystack maze, a balloon toss, a watermelon-eating contest, and a pie-eating contest.
Swampscott
There will be Fourth of July races in town all day, starting at 10:30 a.m.
Four age groups will race in a “Swampscott tradition” starting at Phillips Park. The registration fee for participation is a food donation to Anchor Food Pantry.
