Bring your friends and family to downtown Montpelier to celebrate our Nation’s independence. Festivalgoers can take part in fun family activities in the Kids Zone on the State House Lawn, including yoga, Zumba, music, lawn games and, of course, the bouncy house from 3-6 pm. The Union Mutual Main Stage will feature hometown favorite, the Capital City Band, and the National Anthem will be sung by Malanya Johnson at 4 pm.
At 6 pm, Onion River Sport’s Montpelier Mile will kick off the Independence Day Parade which will begin at the Main Street roundabout, turn onto State Street, and pass by our beautiful State House. There are lots of old and new faces in the parade this year, including the bubble train driven by Buddy the Clown. Parade watchers should look out for Waldo and snap a picture if you can! If you can’t make it downtown for the parade, tune into Channel 15 where ORCA Media will be covering the parade live with commentary by the entertaining Nat Frothingham from The Bridge Newspaper.
After the parade at approximately 7:00 pm, another hometown favorite, the Dave Keller Band, will be the headline act performing on the Berlin Optical Expressions Main Stage. The night will end with a bang, featuring an amazing fireworks show at 9:30 pm sponsored for the 16th year by VSECU.
On the DMV side of State Street and on Governor Aiken Avenue, there will be 38 craft and food vendors set up for the all-day celebration. The July 3rd vendor coordinator, Carolyn Grodinsky, has enlisted old and new favorites with a concentration on diverse and local vendors. Make sure to stop by the Eat More Kale booth and get your Bernie t-shirt! There will be face-painting, temporary tattoos, Glo-ry Lights for when it gets dark, and balloons from Rubber Bubbles. A diverse variety of food will also be found along the streets.
Volunteers are still needed; the link to see what jobs are available and to sign up is on the Montpelier Alive website, www.montpelieralive.org or contact Volunteer Coordinator, Jessica Ball, at volunteer@montpelieralive.org.
We can't wait to celebrate tomorrow!
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