A different kind of Fourth of July
Virtual, socially distant events mark holiday across Chicago
A different kind of Fourth of July unfolded across the Chicago area Saturday, as communities put on virtual events instead of the usual parades, people protested the very idea of the holiday and many eschewed large gatherings in favor of small family picnics.
In the city, parades and fireworks were canceled, but people flocked to local parks, neighborhood bars and the lakefront. Mayor Lori Lightfoot warned bar owners they could be shut down if they violate social distancing rules during the holiday weekend.
Normally a hot spot during summer holidays, North Avenue Beach was mostly empty around noon Saturday as the sun grew hotter, with only a few stragglers strolling across the sand. Chicago beaches are closed to stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus, even as the Lakefront Trail reopened late last month.
Fencing blocked some beach access points, and joggers, walkers and cyclists moved through the recently reopened trail, crowding some points of the path.
With the beaches closed, some took advantage of the water in the Lincoln Park Lagoon, as a couple of dozen paddle boarders traversed the lagoon Saturday afternoon.
Nearby, in Lincoln Park, Erin and Pritesh Patel sat in the shade, eating sandwiches on a blanket with their 20-month-old son. In the past, the Patel family might have picnicked at the beach with a large group of family and friends instead, as the Fourth of July is Erin Patel’s birthday.
“We would normally have a bigger gathering with family,” she said.
But the couple has remained careful, keeping their circle to a small group of immediate family.
A traditional South Side event also went virtual this year, as the Chosen Few DJs moved their annual musical celebration online to bring the disco to Chicago on July Fourth.
The Chosen Few Old School Reunion Picnic has remained a family event over the years, and when COVID-19 struck, its organizers decided to continue the peaceful tradition, which usually draws hundreds of thousands to Jackson Park.
At noon, the celebration kicked off with guest DJ Deon Cole, an actor and comedian who is a South Side native. The annual House music festival’s party continued until 9 p.m. and included guest singer and songwriter Carla Prather and Byron Stingily of Ten City, officials said.
At the same time the Chosen Few celebration kicked off, hundreds of protesters gathered in Federal Plaza in a boycott of the Independence Day holiday.
The rally began with speakers reciting portions of Frederick Douglass’s speech “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July,” as organizers held up a banner with his picture, before the group began a circuitous march through the Loop.
Giana Wheeler, 21, moved through the crowd, collecting contact information from other young marchers, hoping to get people involved in future protests.
Activism is “not meant to make us feel good, it’s meant to actually create a change,” Wheeler said.
But aside from the frequent lighting of illegal fireworks, most who marked the holiday did so in a more traditional, if often online, manner. Several suburbs, including Bridgeview, held “drive-in” fireworks shows for people to view from their cars, while some towns created virtual parades.
Winnetka’s daylong July Fourth traditions were replaced this year with a livestreamed car parade. Seventy-one cars adorned with American flags, patriotic banners, strings of stars and colorful balloons rolled through Village Green as online spectators were encouraged to vote for their favorite decorated vehicles. At least two cars sported cloth face masks across their headlights.
“Winnetka’s normal Fourth of July celebration will begin in 365 days,” an announcer blared out of the speakers at the start of the parade.
A band performed instrumentals atop a flatbed trailer while an Uncle Sam on stilts and small pockets of people walking through the area cheered the cars.
“I think everyone was a little heartbroken that we couldn’t do the normal event,” said Kelsey Raftery, the Winnetka Park District’s marketing manager. “But the fact that we were able to do something that allowed people to come together in some way and it wasn’t just virtual, I think that was good.”
Evanston also moved its celebrations online, with a 20-minute behind-thescenes look at the work that normally goes into the city’s Independence Day, a 45-minute virtual parade, and a prerecorded concert and fireworks show to conclude festivities.
“Since our organization has been active now for 99 years, we’re very good at doing a traditional celebration,” said Bruce Baumberger, trustee emeritus of Evanston’s Fourth of July Association. “... The virtual celebration was something new to us.”
In Batavia, a children’s parade and family picnic drew nearly 200 people to the six-acre grounds of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1197. Families waved flags as they marched in the parade along the VFW grounds.
While many at the parade said they had plans for a celebration at home, they said it was nice to get out for a community celebration that allowed for safe social distancing.
“It just makes me feel happy not to feel so isolated,” said Dawn Chapman, of Batavia.