Andy Close
WARREN, Pa. – The City of Warren Fourth of July celebration, including the annual parade, is on in full force.
The event, which will last three days, will open with Music in the Park, featuring Smokehouse on Friday at 7 p.m. at Betts Park, instead of its usual location at Soldiers and Sailors Park.
The 73rd annual Fourth of July Parade will be held on Saturday, July 3, and there will be a day full of festivities at Betts Park leading up to the fireworks on Sunday, July 4, at approximately 10 p.m.
With the exception of the parade, all of the weekend festivities will be held at Betts.
“People are so excited and things are coming back to normal,” Fourth of July Organization Chairman Bill Thompson said. “This is a signature thing that happens every year in Warren. Our parade is the third or fourth biggest in Pennsylvania. I think Canonsburg is No. 1, then there’s a town outside of Philadelphia that’s No. 2, and I think we’re either third or fourth. We’re very proud to be in that category.”
The City of Warren has been very cooperative, while the Warren County Chamber of Business and Industry has also played an instrumental role in preparing for the big weekend.
“There’s the food truck event at Betts, and John Papalia with the WCCBI has really spearheaded that,” Thompson said.
Read more about the Food Truck event here.
The parade will kick off at 11 a.m. Saturday, and it promises to be a strong turnout, according to Thompson.
“I’m looking at a little over 100 units,” Thompson said. “There’s going to be at least four divisions. There will be an advanced division, plus divisions one, two, and three. Normally in the years past it’s been 5 and 6., but it will still be a nice size.
“We’ve got a lot of floats. We have at least seven or eight marching drum corps, including DownBeat Percussion, the official drumline of the Buffalo Bills. It’s probably the third time they’ve marched in our parade. They reached out about three years ago and said they had heard a lot of good things about it and wanted to be a part of it.”
The advanced division will lead the way, featuring the honor guard, as well as several political groups.
Division 1 will be made up of churches and different organizations, as well as some music and some cheerleaders, per Thompson.
Division 2 will be a Temple Function for the Erie Zem Zem Shrine.
“They are going to bring eight different units,” Thompson said of the Zem Zem Shrine.
The parade organization, in turn, helps Shriners Hospital for Children – Erie.
This will be the third time in the last five years that the Warren County Fourth of July Parade will be a Temple Function for the Erie Zem Zem Shrine, with the first three raising over $27,000 for Shriners, per Thompson.
The third division will feature floats and firetrucks and the fourth division ‘anything that has come in this week,’ Thompson said.
“I’ve been very pleased with the turnout,” Thompson said.
At Betts, there will be 12 food trucks, plus about seven to eight crafters.
“There’s going to be a lot of stuff to do at Betts,” Thompson said. “There’s going to be activities throughout the day on Saturday and Sunday. There’s going to be a bounce house, ax throwing, different things like that.”
The band South 62 will be performing Saturday night from 7-10 p.m.
“They’re an up and coming band with guys from the Jamestown (NY), Warren, and Franklin area,” noted Thompson.
On Sunday, James Patrick Hackett and the Kinzua All-Stars will perform from 7-10 p.m. leading into the fireworks.
“Pat Hackett is a local guy who grew up here who now lives in Burbank, California,” noted Thompson.”He’s got a really good group.”
All in all, it promises to be a fun-filled weekend.
“I think this is something that people want to involved in and are excited to be a part of,” Thompson said.
Check out more from on the Warren County Fourth of July Celebration Here.
NOTE: This is the third in a summer series of touring Warren County, highlighting some of the unique places to visit and events in our area. Places you think we should feature? Email us at [email protected]
Touring Warren County series: The Wilder Museum • Kinzua Point
