DeKalb city readies for July 4 in Hopkins Park, with new features this year

DeKALB – The leadership at the DeKalb Park District and the city of DeKalb hope to make the Fourth of July a holiday that residents and community members will remember.

The annual fireworks celebration is making its debut for the summer, along with a lineup of new programming to keep people of all ages entertained during the day.

John Shea, the park district’s executive director, said the idea behind expanding the event is simple.

“[We would like] to provide more for the community,” Shea said. “We just want to keep entertainment going throughout the day. It starts off early in the morning with the 5k and then just to transition the park into a festivity and just to provide more for the families that come and spend the day with us on Independence Day.”

New this year is an Independence Day 10K race.

“Tradition has always been a 5K, but this year we are incorporating a 10K as well,” Shea said.

Shea said the Independence Day 5K has had about 110 people sign up in advance to participate.

“We’ll probably have more the day of,” he said. “Last year, we had about 30 people sign up the day of. We’re anticipating around 130 people.”

Food vendors will be on hand from 2 to 9 p.m. serving food from the likes of Big D’s, The Cream King, Jah Love and Kona Ice.

Children and their families can participate in relay races, play games and take part in activities and strolling entertainment at any time from 2 to 6 p.m. In addition, an animal and reptile show can be viewed from 2 to 3:15 p.m.

The cover band Final Say will play live music for people to enjoy from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. and is followed shortly thereafter by a concert by the DeKalb Municipal Band at 7:30 p.m.

All the festivities will take place at Hopkins Park, 1403 Sycamore Road.

At approximately 30 minutes after sunset, the Fourth of July festivities will culminate with a display of fireworks.

Shea said the park district does not anticipate having issues with capping off the night with a fireworks show.

“We have a great relationship with RKM Fireworks,” Shea said. “We signed a three-year contract with them a couple years ago. This is the second year of the three-year contract. They were prepared for the show this year. Honestly, we didn’t have any issue with supply shortage that I know of.”

The park district has been working with RKM since the conclusion of last year’s show to secure fireworks for this year, officials said.

Shea wanted to give a special thanks to Matthew Beasley, a local resident, who contributed $570 to add additional time toward this year’s fireworks show.

Shea said the park district has been working to organize the Fourth of July celebration since July 5 of last year.

“We’re looking forward to the additions,” he said. “We’re looking forward to seeing as many people out there as possible.”