Party time
Multiple events on tap in area for July Fourth
Fourth of July celebrations will come off with a bang but also a splash around Yuma County on Thursday.
Fireworks exhibitions will be a part of the celebrations in Yuma, Somerton, San Luis, Wellton and at the casinos.
But there will also be water slides and splash zones at the celebrations, and Somerton will again stage a major water balloon fight at its event — this one fought with an estimated 57,000 balloons.
Live or DJ music will also be part of entertainment at the shindigs.
Apart from those festivities, The Freedom Library of Yuma will host a public session Thursday morning to study the Declaration of Independence, and the Caballeros de Yuma will hold a flag-raising ceremony, also that morning.
Here’s a round of Fourth of July celebrations and observances that are open to the public:
Yuma
The Ray Kroc Complex, 1280 W. Desert Hills Drive, will host the 5th annual City of Yuma 4th of July All American BBQ & Fireworks Spectacular.
Gates open at 6 p.m. for the celebration that features giant water slides, splash zone, family water challenges, pie and hot dog-eating contests, plus a patriotic ceremony that includes the singing of the National Anthem and honor guard presentation.
Barbecue will be served and food vendors will be working the event.
A 20-minute fireworks spectacle will take place after dark.
The public can bring chairs, blankets and popup shade. Food, drinks and coolers are not allowed from the outside.
Admission to the celebration is $1 per person, with children 3 and under let in for free. People are encouraged to bring nonperishable food items for donation to the Yuma Community Food Banks.
San Luis
Joe Orduño Park, 965 Park Ave., is the scene for the celebration in San Luis that Jesus Meza, the city’s assistant parks director, has been long in planning.
“This is the biggest event that we have in the city. We have been preparing for it since August, and we’re confident that people are going to like it and that we are going to attract visitors from around the region.”
Gates open at 5:30 p.m. and Los Chatos, a tribute band from Mexicali, Baja Calif., will appear in a live concert at 6:30 p.m., playing some of the songs of the Beatles, Queen, The Doors, and Creedence Clearwater Revival. They will be followed at 7:30 p.m. by La Cachimba, a Spanish rock and ska band whose members come from Mexicali and Calexico. Sucursal de la Cumbia, a rock, ska and cumbia band, will play after 8:30 p.m.
A 15-minute fireworks display is slated for 10:25 p.m. followed by a performance by the Mexican rock bank El Inspector. Famed for hits dating back to the 1990s, the band is stopping San Luis as part of its U.S. tours.
A portion of the park will be set aside at a kids zone, where youngsters can descend water slides or play in jumpers. More than 15 food vendors will be serving at the celebration.
Admission to the celebration is free, although $1 is charged for admittance to the kids zone.
Somerton
Since 2012, organizers of Somerton’s Independence Day have sought to stage the world’s largest water balloon fight as part of festivities. They’ve yet to make the Guinness Book of World Records, but the fight has proved to be one of the popular attractions of the event.
That’s not to say they’re giving up on making the record books some day.
“Every year we’ve been adding a thousand more balloons for the fight,” said Angelica Roldan, the city’s special events coordinator, and on Thursday 57,000 balloons will be filled and thrown by the crowd, which will be divided into two opposing sides.
The celebration starts at 7 p.m. at Council Avenue Park, 801 Council Ave., and the fight is slated at 8:35 p.m. Admission is free.
Other activities include dance performances and a watermelon-eating contest. Checker’d Past, a Yuma band playing 1980s hits, will perform after the contest.
The fireworks exhibition is scheduled to begin at 9:30 p.m., followed by a live concert by Ritmo Latino.
An area will be set aside as a kids zone, and food vendors will be serving.
Roldan urges people to bring folding chairs and pop-up covers.
Wellton
Wellton’s celebration takes place at Butterfield Park, 10234 Dome St., beginning at 6:30 p.m., with the fireworks show starting at sunset.
Activities for kids include a water jumper and water slide and obstacle course. Hamburgers and hot dogs will be available for purchase and free watermelon will be served.
Also Thursday at 3 p.m., the Antelope Union High School football team will host a cornhole tournament at the Wellton Community Center, 10234 Dome St. The event is open to the public. For information about signing up to compete, call Wellton Town Hall at 785-3348.
Paradise Casino
Paradise Casino, 450 Quechan Drive in Winterhaven, will host its Early Independence Day Celebration today beginning at 6 p.m.
The free event features free games for kids, free cotton candy, popcorn, snow cones and sodas, DJ music and a display of freestyle motorcycle stunts.. The fireworks demonstration starts at 9:30 p.m.
Cocopah Casino
The Cocopah Casino will host a celebration starting at 6 p.m. Thursday on its events lawn, 15318 S. Avenue B.
Festivities include water slides for kids, DJ music and 7 p.m. performance by the Yuma band Tommy and the Drifters. Fireworks follow at 8:45 p.m.
Admission is free. The casino will sell hot dogs, chips and drinks, and food vendors will serve the public. There will also be a beer garden.
People are urged to being blankets or lawn chairs.
Meanwhile, Cocopah Speedway, 3450 W. County 15th St., is putting on what it calls Night of Meyhem, a Fourth of July show that features freestyle motocross and demolition derby.
Gates open at 4:30 p.m. and the show starts at 5:30 p.m. Admission is $15 for adults and $12 for military and seniors. Kids 12 and under get in for free.
Declaration of Independence study
The Freedom Library, located on north side of the Yuma Sun building at 2035 S. Arizona Ave., will host a session for what library founder Howard Blitz describes as an in-depth study of the document that is celebrated today.
The session is slated from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.
“We’re going to read it line by line, and we’re just going to have an informal discussion about it,” Blitz said. “It’s open to the public, there’s no charge, and we’ll have a few refreshments.”
Caballeros de Yuma Fourth of July ceremony
The Caballeros de Yuma will mark the nation’s birthday and honor military veterans in a flag-raising ceremony that begins at 7:30 a.m. at Yuma Armed Forces Park, 291 S. Gila St.
Col. David A. Suggs, commander of the Marine Corps Air Stations, will speak at the ceremony, and Simon Martinez Jr., a veteran from the Yuma area, will be the honored guest of the event.
The ceremony is free and open to the public.