Family-friendly parades and organized fireworks displays in the night sky above areas of Santa Barbara County are among the Fourth of July celebrations scheduled for the holiday weekend.
Unless otherwise noted, the activities have free admission.
On the South Coast, the Pierre Claeyssens Veterans Foundation will host an in-person celebration scheduled to begin at noon Sunday at the Santa Barbara Cemetery, 901 Channel Drive in Santa Barbara.
Organizers of the Santa Barbara gathering said it will feature guest speakers, a flyover presented by the Van Nuys-based Condor Squadron, an honor guard from Vandenberg Space Force Base and live music, including a performance by the Gold Coast Pipe Band and retired Santa Barbara police Sgt. David Gonzales singing “America the Beautiful.”
Speakers will include PCVF co-founder and retired Navy Lt. John Blankenship and Col. Robert Long, the new commander of Space Launch Delta 30 at the United States Space Force. The keynote address will be delivered by retired Navy Capt. Charlie Plumb, who spent six years as a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War.
“We are thrilled to be able to resume our mission of acknowledging the service and sacrifice of our veterans — the guardians of our nation’s independence,” Blankenship said in a statement. “What better way to do this than to gather with our friends, families and neighbors on the Fourth of July?
“Our goal is to respectfully observe and celebrate this year’s very special Independence Day. It signifies the birth of our nation and return to a sense of normalcy now that California is open for business.”
The Montecito Association is presenting a Fourth of July car parade beginning and finishing at Upper Manning Park, 449 San Ysidro Road in Montecito.
Dubbed the Village Fourth Road Show, the car procession will start at 11:30 a.m. Sunday, cruising along San Ysidro Road toward the ocean, North Jameson Lane, Channel Drive, East Cabrillo Boulevard, as well as Coast Village Road, Olive Mill Road and other Montecito-area neighborhoods.
Santa Barbara will offer a 20-minute fireworks production beginning at 9 p.m. Sunday along the waterfront at West Beach.
KEYT will offer a livestream of the display, and local radio station KjEE 92.9 FM will have a live simulcast.
This year’s celebratory event will not include live music on Santa Barbara’s West Beach or food trucks along Cabrillo Boulevard, according to the city.
Click here for information on parking and road closures on Sunday.
In downtown Solvang, the Fourth of July parade will kick off at 11 a.m. Sunday at Alisal Road and Oak Street.
With the theme of “God Bless America,” the 2021 parade is slated to feature floats, local clubs, bands, horses, Viking ships and rare automobiles. The Solvang Rotary Club is sponsoring the parade.
“We are preparing for a record crowd of enthusiastic Americans and visitors to see ‘the biggest small-town parade in the Danish Capital of America,’” parade chairman Steve Palmer said.
The parade route will travel a slightly different path through downtown because Highway 246 is not available this year, Palmer said.
“Instead, the parade will begin at Alisal Road and Oak Street, travel north to Copenhagen Drive, west on Copenhagen to Second Street, south on Second Street past the Solvang Festival Theatre, then east on Oak Street back to Alisal Road,” Palmer said. “There will be a convenient detour in town around the parade route with road closures starting about 10 a.m.”
Highway 246 will remain open to through traffic during the event, according to Palmer.
“We are excited to have a parade this year,” Solvang Rotary Club President Art Kaslow. “There will be bands and a Rotary food booth in Solvang Park for all to enjoy after the parade to supplement our fine restaurants and shops being open.”
Check-in and staging for the parade will start at 9 a.m. along the 300 block of Alisal Road and extend to Alisal Mesa Road and Lot 72.
Judging of the parade participants will take place in front of The Copenhagen House at Copenhagen Drive and First Street.
Lompoc will hold its fireworks show on Sunday night at Ryon Memorial Park on West Ocean Avenue. Gates are scheduled to open at 5 p.m.
People can get pre-sale tickets for the festival-like event at the Anderson Recreation Center, 125 W. Walnut Ave., during regular operating hours from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Friday. Additionally, pre-sale tickets will be sold at Lompoc’s Movies in the Park event at Memorial Ryon Park, 800 W. Ocean Ave., on Saturday.
Pre-sale tickets to the Fourth of July event cost $3 for children age 12 or younger and $5 for adults. Tickets can be purchased the day of Lompoc’s gathering, and will cost $6 for children age 12 or younger and $8 for adults.
The admission fee includes park entry, live music and games for children. Food options will be available for purchase.
Fourth of July fireworks shows will not occur this year in Santa Maria, Solvang and Goleta’s Girsh Park.
— Noozhawk staff writer Brooke Holland can be reached at bholland@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
