Warren County Celebrates the 4th of July with Food, Parade, Fireworks

WARREN, Pa. – The “return to normal” has been a slow build during the last couple of months, but that slow build turned into a rocket over the weekend when Warren County came out in full force to celebrate Independence Day.

The Warren Fourth of July Celebration was held Friday, Saturday and Sunday with thousands turning out for the festivities.

“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 annual celebration opened with a new event Friday. The Warren County Chamber of Business and Industry hosted its first Food Truck Festival at Betts Park. The festival, which went on all three days, featured over a dozen food trucks along with other vendors, kids games, face painting and a bounce house.

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Concerts were held each night as well.

The 73rd annual Fourth of July Parade was held on Saturday. The parade theme was “Bringing together Warren County, past, present and future.”

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The parade and Warren’s other annual tradition leading up to the parade is where Thompson said he really start to feel a sense of normalcy.

“Seeing the chairs out is what really changed my feeling on everything,” Thompson said. “Warren County, the community here and the city, they’re all about this parade. And you can tell, with all the chairs along the avenue, it means a lot to them.”

Parade highlights:

“It means a lot,” Thompson said of being able to hold the parade this year. “I love this country and I love this Fourth of July celebration. Just seeing everything come together here in Warren is very touching.”

The parade organization, in turn, helps Shriners Hospital for Children – Erie.

In the last five years, this was the third time that the Warren County Fourth of July Parade was a Temple Function for the Erie Zem Zem Shrine. A donation of $8,500 was made to the Shriners Hospital this year, while the first three years raised over $27,000 for Shriners, per Thompson.

“That’s touching also, knowing that amount of money is going to the Shriner’s Hospital in Erie,” Thompson said.