This week, Governor Schwarzenegger asked Californians to not buy fireworks in the counties and cities that still allow them, citing the recent and current California fires. And Watsonville has banned fireworks sales this year, with a unanimous vote by city council members. Personally, I like to find myself a good, old-fashioned town parade to celebrate Independence Day, and in the Bay Area, we have several options:
Marin Mommies has put together a great piece on the celebrations in Marin County, including parades in Corte Madera-Larkspur, Novato and Sausalito. They also list some of the local fireworks displays around the Bay.
In the East Bay, 4th of July parades can be found in Alameda (theme: Clean and Green), Vallejo with the Vallejo Symphony Orchestra, and in Danville, residents will celebrate the 150th anniversary of the city and 50th anniversary of Hay Days with a parade starting at 9am on July 4th.
Near the UpTake offices, you can check out the Redwood City Parade and Family Fun, also celebrating their 70th anniversary. Cupertino holds a pancake breakfast before setting off on their parade. And in Santa Cruz county, you can celebrate with parades and events in Watsonville, Boulder Creek and Aptos (this last parade features Great Pyrenes dogs in their parade!)
Our family is going to celebrate locally this year, heading over to our community pool and joining in on the annual Great Decorated Bike Parade, a wonderful photo opportunity! What are your plans this Independence Day?
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6 Responses
The decorated bike parade? Sounds interesting! I bet there are some great photo opportunities there!
They have a bike parade in my neighborhood too. Personally I like the floats going by that throw good candy.
that is what the Danville parade has - in fact, the year we went, a couple of the local grocery stores were handing out summer fruit, peaches and nectarines. It was a hoot!
Don’t forget Orinda’s Fourth of July Parade in the East Bay. It might be the only Fourth of July Parade with a pick-up marching band. The Roadrunners will host a Fun run before John Fazel’s and Jerry Wendt’s 8 a.m. pancake breakfast across the street from the Library Plaza,. Orinda’s Grace Woods will sing during the breakfast with her trio.
The parade starts at 10 a.m. at the Crossroads, where it assembles with announcer Bill Cosden. Musicians from kindergarten through high school will be performing along with “Orinda Idol” finalists. Emcee Steve Harwood will have the 2007 Idol winners singing for you in Orinda Village.
Thanks for the information, Nancy. Good to know, someone is in the know in the east bay.
Well, we were planning to see family in the Houston area, but now I think we’re staying home. This is our first 4th of July in this new small town we have moved to, so we are about to find out what all there is to do!
Love the picture with this post. And, hope there will NOT be any new fires!!