By Louis Zylka
The 830 Times
With the Fourth of July around the corner, city officials have announced the list of events for this year’s celebration of Independence Day.
Esme Esparza, the city’s community services director, spoke with The 830 Times to give more detailed information about the Fourth of July festivities, including the times and locations.
The Fourth of July activities will begin with the Miss Fourth of July Pageant, which will take place in the Red Oak Ballroom at the Del Rio Civic Center, 1915 Veterans Blvd., on Thursday, July 2, at 6 p.m. Registration is open till Monday, June 22. Meza said to celebrate America’s 250th birthday, the pageant will have both male and female pageant winners.
On Saturday, July 4, the annual Stars & Stripes 5K will take place on South Main Street at 8 a.m. (The exact route is still being finalized). For younger groups, the Chalk the Walk event will take place at 9 a.m. around the Ogden and South Main Streets.
The city’s annual Fourth of July Stars and Stripes parade will take place at 9:30 a.m. starting on South Main Street and Ogden Street and ending at South Main Street and Nicholson Street. People still have till Monday, June 29, to sign up and be part of the parade’s lineup.
Along with the annual events, one of the newest additions to the Fourth of July festivities is the Skate Competition taking place at the Del Rio Skate Garden, 708 W. De La Rosa St. Other new activities will be found at Joe Ramos Center Park, 1105 W. De La Rosa St., including professional wrestling matches and rock painting areas at 2 p.m., a hot dog eating contest at 5 p.m., and a watermelon eating contest at 6 p.m.
Near the Joe Ramos Gym, inflatable play sets with games will be put together by Del Rio’s Big Air Trampoline & Adventure Park. The Joe Ramos Gym will also be used as a cooling station where people can relax and cool off and will also be a location from which emergency services can be contacted if needed.
The holiday’s main entertainment will take place at the Dr. Alfredo Gutierrez Amphitheater, W. De La Rosa St., from 5 p.m. to 11:45 p.m. The headliner is Michael Salgado, and the rest of the lineup include David Marez, OGC, Luna Tropical and Valcanico.
The annual fireworks will take place at the San Felipe Springs Golf Course at 10 p.m. Also, new to the festivities is the kayak night parade, taking place in the San Felipe Creek area beginning at 8:30 p.m. Registration will be found on the city’s page, which will be open till the day of the event.
