Celebrate the 4th of July
A day chock full of activities ends with a bang at Ridge Ferry Park.
Gates at Ridge Ferry Park open at 3 p.m. today for the county’s annual Independence Day celebration, Patriotic Party in the Park. The concert starts at 8 p.m. and the fireworks show is slated for sometime around 10 p.m.
“They’ll wait until it gets pitch black,” Doug Kelley said.
Kelley and Ryan Goodwin were setting up the lights and sound system on the stage Tuesday afternoon. They’re with Parker Events, the arm of Parker Systems co-sponsoring the free community event with the Rome-Floyd Parks and Recreation Department.
“We’ll make the stage pretty, the band loud and the flag light up,” Kelley said.
Parks & Rec crews had already hung a massive United States flag as the backdrop. They were busy mowing the grass and placing the banks of portable toilets for the thousands of revelers expected today.
Food trucks and other vendors will be set up at the park, but many families bring picnics and stake out spots under the trees near the playgrounds.
Entrance to a special Kid Zone area with inflatables will cost $5 for an armband that allows all-day play but the other events are free.
Attendees can sign up on site for the old-fashioned, familyfriendly contests that start every half-hour from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. They’ll kick off with a hula hoop contest, followed by watermeloneating, water balloons and pieeating events.
Local band Little Known Letter, who performed last year as well, will take the stage at 8 p.m.
“They’re a crowd favorite,” Kelley said. “They play music from all generations from the ‘50s to the 2000s.”
The National Weather Service is forecasting a mostly sunny day, but there’s a 30-percent chance of showers and thunderstorms between 2 and 8 p.m.
Temperatures are expected to rise as high as 91 degrees — with a potential heat index value of 98 — and cool down to the 70s in the evening.