Dublin celebration
MULTIPLE LOCATIONS, DUBLIN
What do you get when you cross the Queen of Funk with a Doobie Brother?
You get the headlining act of the Dublin Independence Day celebration. Singers Michael Mcdonald and Chaka Khan will co-headline a concert at the Dublin Coffman High School football stadium, 6780 Coffman Road.
Mcdonald, 67 and Khan, 66 — whose solo careers and music with the Doobie Brothers and Rufus, respectively, filled the 1970s and ’80s with plenty of hits — will take the stage at 4:30 p.m.
Festivities begin at 8 a.m. with the Sherm Sheldon Fishing Derby outside the Dublin Community Recreation Center near the Coffman Pavilion. Participants should bring their own poles and bait. Those with the longest fish in each age division are awarded a trophy.
At 9:30 a.m., an inflation celebration at Graeter’s Ice Cream, 6255 Metro Place, takes place ahead of the 11 a.m. parade that ends on South High Street and Waterford Drive.
Around the football stadium, a children’s area with inflatables and games will be open from 4:30 to 9:30 p.m., with fireworks commencing before 10 p.m.
Contact: 614-410-4545, dublinohiousa.gov
Time: 8 a.m. Thursday, with fireworks at 9:50 p.m.
Admission: $5 for stadium seating at the concert or $3 for Dublin residents; lawn seating outside the gates is free; $5 for the children’s area
Freedom Fest
ROGER A. REYNOLDS MUNICIPAL PARK, 3800 VETERANS MEMORIAL DRIVE, HILLIARD
Punk-rock outfit While I’m Away started as a group of high-school students jamming after school.
Wes Vala never thought they would take the stage at a large celebration like Freedom Fest. The Hilliard Bradley High School students — Vala on guitar and vocals, Clair Shmidt on drums and James V. Goslee on bass — are one of three high-school rock bands slated to perform ahead of country music headliner Rodney Atkins.
“I never thought we’d get asked to do something like this,” said 17-year-old Vala, an incoming senior.
The bands — including Ink from Hilliard Darby and Pyranimals from Hilliard Davidson — are part of a music- and videoproduction program at the Innovative Learning Center, part of Hilliard City Schools. Students in the experiencefocused course learn how to write and record songs, maintain social media and perform live, said Phil Nagy, who teaches the class along with Trevor Torrence.
Threat Level Midnight, an alumni band of the program, will also perform.
Although a 9 a.m. parade through Old Hilliard, food trucks, games and fireworks also are part of the holiday festivities, the Hilliard Recreation and Parks Department thought that bringing such youthful performers in would appeal to the teenagers in attendance.
“We wanted to hit this targeted group,” event planner Angela Zody said. “They come in droves to our event, but we just weren’t reaching them.”
Contact: 614-876-5200, hilliardohio.gov
Time: 3 p.m. Thursday, with fireworks at dusk