Local options for July Fourth

Although Chapel Hill officials chose to pull funding for the annual fireworks celebration at Kenan Stadium, a wide variety of local Independence Day activities still exist.

Carrboro July 4 parade

For a celebration close to home, Carrboro will host a free Independence Day parade Monday.

Featuring high-profile musical acts like the Red Clay Ramblers and the Archbishops of Blount Street, this year’s festival will begin at Weaver Street Market. Carrboro Events Coordinator Kim Andrews said the construction taking place on Weaver Street will have no effect on the parade’s route.

“(The construction crew) will allow people to gather where they normally would, which is now a construction zone,” she said. “They’ll remove the barriers as soon as the parade begins.”

Free events will include a pie-eating contest, a kids zone and a scrap exchange.

Festivities will begin at 9:30 a.m. and end at 3 p.m.

Festival for the Eno River

Beginning Saturday and concluding Monday, the Festival for the Eno River will showcase the area’s finest music and crafts throughout Independence Day weekend.

Acts are typically of the traditional bluegrass sort, although Durham rock trio Hammer No More the Fingers, Chapel Hill’s own Paper Hand Puppet Intervention and several dance companies will add variety to this year’s lineup.

Nearly 100 vendors of homemade crafts will display their products on the river’s banks. In addition, the festival will include clean energy exhibits and demonstrations of sustainable farming practices.

“The event speaks to a desire to live sustainably, to protect our natural resources,” said Maddiey Straubel, assistant festival coordinator with the Eno River Association. “I’ve grown up in Durham, and I’ve noticed that we have wanted to be green long before it was hip.”

Tickets, if bought before Friday, cost $13 for a day pass and $30 for the entire weekend. At the gate, prices climb to $15 and $35. Festivities will take place between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. each day.

Durham Bulls fireworks

The Durham Bulls Athletic Park is offering baseball and fireworks every evening from Friday to Independence Day.

For those who would rather skip the baseball altogether, the gates will reopen during the seventh inning to the general public, who will then be allowed to enter free of charge.

Durham Bulls Director of Media Relations Matt DeMargel cautions against this approach because he said he expects the park to fill up long before then.

“We expect that the July 3rd and 4th games will be sell-outs,” he said. “We’re encouraging people to show up early and get tickets.”

Ticket prices range from $7 to $9. Games will take place at 7 p.m., except Monday’s, which will begin at 6 p.m. and feature an extended fireworks show.

Old Fashioned July 4

For locals who want to honor July 4 in a more relaxed environment, the Horace Williams House is offering a celebration in the style of days gone by.

Sherril Koroluk, assistant to the director of the Preservation Society of Chapel Hill, said the society’s Independence Day event has attracted a loyal following over the years.

“It always draws a crowd,” she said. “The Village Band will be playing, and we’ll be handing out flags and serving lemonade the entire time.”

Festivities will take place from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. on the lawn of the Horace Williams House at 610 E. Rosemary St. Admission is free, and the event is open to the public.

Contact the City Editor at city@dailytarheel.com.