Long holiday weekend includes lots of Independence Day festivities and fireworks

Wjll County — Why wait until the Fourth of July to celebrate American independence?

With July 4 falling on a Monday, several area communities will take advantage of the long weekend to hold Independence Day celebrations Sunday.

In Joliet, you can even get a fireworks show Saturday, too, at a Slammers game because the city’s independent league baseball team is adding fireworks after the game in celebration of the holiday.

Joliet will celebrate Independence Day on Sunday and Monday.

Billie Limacher Bicentennial Park, 201 W. Jefferson St., will host an Independence Day celebration that starts at 6 p.m. Sunday with live music, food and craft vendors.

Park manager Lori Carmine said the event will have “a small-town feel to it,” as people gather in the park that runs along the west bank of the Des Plaines River. The fireworks show will not be quite as big as the one that occurs the next day in Joliet, but spectators will get the pleasant effect of pyrotechnics over the river.

Fireworks start sometime after 9 p.m. when there is sufficient darkness.

On Monday, the city’s traditional fireworks show will be at the Joliet Junior College Main Campus, 1215 Houbolt Road.

The gates open at 6 p.m. and close at 9 p.m. for safety reasons before the fireworks begin, so attendees should not be late. The city warns that the gates may even be closed earlier depending on whether parking remains available.

Spectators need to use the main entrance, which is on Elmer W. Rowley Drive.

Here are some other Independence Day activities in the area:

• Plainfield celebrates Sunday with a Patriotic Picnic that starts at 6 p.m. at Bott Community Park, 24550 W. Renwick Road, and at nearby Plainfield Central High School, 24120 W. Fort Beggs Drive, followed by fireworks at about 9 p.m.
• The picnic, which is back after being called off the past two years during the COVID-19 pandemic, includes children’s games, food trucks and more.
• New Lenox will have an Independence Day celebration that starts at 6 p.m. Monday at the Village Commons, 1 Veterans Parkway. The event includes live music with Whiskeyfist playing until 8 p.m., which is when the Joliet American Legion Band will take over with traditional American music leading up to the 9:30 p.m. fireworks display.
• Lockport shoots off fireworks about 9 p.m. or dusk Sunday at Dellwood Park, Route 171 and Woods Drive.
• Channahon will celebrate from 5 to 10 p.m. Sunday at Community Park, 23304 W. McClintock Road, with live music, food vendors and fireworks at dusk.
• Romeoville shoots off fireworks Sunday from three locations. On its website, the village said it “strongly encourages” residents to watch from home rather than traveling to the fireworks sites, where access will be restricted. If you need to go somewhere for a better view, the village invites people to view fireworks from the parking lots of Village Hall, 1050 W. Romeo Road.

The triad of fireworks displays begins at 9:30 p.m. Launch sites are Volunteer Park, 1100 Murphy Drive; Lucancic Middle School, 725 Normantown Road; and Discovery Park, 300 S. Highpoint Drive.

• Bolingbrook will hold a Fourth of July celebration from 3 to 9 p.m. Monday at the Bolingbrook Golf Club, 2001 Rodeo Road. The event includes a DJ and bands with food trucks and vendors leading up to the fireworks show at dusk.

According to the village, shuttle service rides will be available from Plainfield East High School, 12001 Naperville Road. Remote viewing areas will be at Eichenberger Elementary School, 12450 Essington Road, and John F. Kennedy Middle School, 12350 Essington Road.

• Frankfort will have a Fourth of July celebration from 5 to 9 p.m. Monday at Main Park, 200 S. Locust St., with carnival games, live music and fireworks at dusk.
• Mokena has a Fourth of July parade at 10 a.m. Monday.