The City of Fairfax will celebrate the Fourth of July, this Friday, starting with a 10 a.m. parade that travels through the downtown Fairfax Historic District. It’ll go on, rain or shine, starting at the Massey Building at 4100 Chain Bridge Road. Participants will march in a loop past the old courthouse, along Main Street and University Drive and past the reviewing stand in front of City Hall on Armstrong Street.
There’ll be eight, high-school marching bands, including the City’s own Fairfax High Marching Rebels, plus bands from Woodson and West Springfield. The Washington Redskins Marching Band will also participate, as will the Northern Virginia Firefighters’ Emerald Society Pipe Band.
The parade will also feature horses, clowns, color guards, firefighters, police, Scouts, dance groups, musicians, barbershop singers, and the Grand Marshal, Uncle Sam. Other highlights will be the Rough Riders Junior Buffalo Soldiers Drill Team, City of Fairfax Theatre Co., large inflatable balloons, and the City Of Fairfax Regional Library Precision Book Cart Drill Team.
Streets on the parade route will close at 7:30 a.m., but shuttle buses will run from 8:30-10:30 a.m. from parking areas at George Mason University (GMU), Woodson High and Fairfax United Methodist Church and return again from 12:30-1:30 p.m. GMU is at 4400 University Drive; Woodson, 9525 Main Street; and Fairfax UMC, 10300 Stratford Avenue.
Following the parade, visitors may watch area fire companies compete in a variety of events during an old-fashioned Fireman’s Day. It’ll be held from 12:30-3 p.m. at Fire Station 3 at 4081 University Drive, and the event includes food, beverages and games.
The Fairfax Museum and Visitors Center, 10209 Main St., 9 a.m.-4-p.m.; and the Ratcliffe-Allison House, 10386 Main St., 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.; will both be open to visitors.
In the evening, the festivities shift to Fairfax High, 3501 Rebel Run. There, starting at 7 p.m. in the football stadium, the band Leggz will perform everything from Motown favorites to classic rock & roll to hits of the 1970s and ’80s.
Later on, the City of Fairfax Band will play the "1812 Overture" to mark the start of the spectacular fireworks display slated for 9:30 p.m. The fireworks will be shot off from the baseball field; afterward, Leggz will perform a grand finale. Rain date for the fireworks only is July 5 at 9:30 p.m. For more information or to volunteer, call 703-385-7858 or see www.fairfaxva.gov.