Monday, Jul 2, 2007
The National Park Service has announced the series of events that will mark this year’s edition of the annual Independence Day celebration of our nation’s founding. The schedule continues the tradition of day-long activities for all ages, with events designed to highlight freedom and diversity that will include a parade, the Folklife Festival, concerts, and fireworks – all taking place on and near national park land in the heart of the nation’s capital on both sides of the Potomac River. This year’s theme is “A Celebration of Liberty.”
The NPS’ “America’s 2007 Independence Day Parade” kicks off at 11:45 a.m. and will last for about two hours. The parade route moves westward on Constitution Avenue from 7th Street to 17th Street, N.W. Viewing areas for this traditional July 4th parade will be available along Constitution Avenue. Parade participants include marching bands, floats, balloons, and military units.
America's biggest and best-loved birthday party, "A Capitol Fourth 2007" concert, featuring the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO), begins at 8:00 p.m. on the West lawn of the U.S. Capitol. This 90-minute concert will be broadcast live nationally on both PBS and NPR member stations. The concert is free and is presented by the NPS and its producer, Capital Concerts.
Joining host Tony Danza are recording artist Elliot Yamin (American Idol), Grammy award-winning gospel legend Yolanda Adams, Tony Award-winner Bebe Neuwirth (Chicago, Cheers) and star of the hit series Heroes, Hayden Panettiere. Top Pops conductor Erich Kunzel will direct the NSO. This year marks the 50th anniversary of West Side Story, with the NSO performing a special musical tribute to one of Broadway's most successful and all-American shows. The concert will be capped off by a rousing rendition of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, complete with live cannon fire provided by the United States Army Presidential Salute Battery.
At 4:15 p.m., the Independence Day concert begins on the southwest corner of the Washington Monument grounds, near the intersection of 17th Street and Independence Avenue, S.W. Artists include the United States Navy Band with special guests Steve Azar and Carolyn Dawn Johnson. U.S. veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars recuperating at Walter Reed Army Medical Center will be transported to the Washington Monument grounds for this concert.
The day concludes with the traditional NPS fireworks beginning at 9:10 p.m. and lasting until 9:30 p.m. Pyro Shows, Inc. of LaFollette, Tennessee, will provide this year’s visual extravaganza. The rain date for the NPS fireworks display is Thursday, July 5th.
Between 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m., visitors who have the “liberty” to stop at the White House Visitor Center may experience what it would be like to be a “Signer of the Declaration of Independence for a Day” with the help of NPS rangers and volunteers from President’s Park. The White House Visitor Center is located near the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue between 14th and 15th Streets, N.W., on the north side of the Commerce Department building. During this full day of free programming, visitors will have the opportunity to sample the sights, sounds, activities and personages that helped finalize the Declaration of Independence and create the United States of America on July 4, 1776. The day’s events include games, crafts and other activities designed for both children and adults.
From 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. on July 4th, the George Washington Memorial Parkway (GWMP) will sponsor a FREE concert at the Netherlands Carillon. Located next to the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington, VA, visitors will be able to watch and listen to a trained carillonneur play the bells. During the concert visitors will have the opportunity to climb the tower stairs to see one of the best views of Washington, D.C.
National Mall & Memorial Parks rangers will present vignettes, featuring “The Importance of July 4th throughout American history” on the Washington Monument grounds stage beginning at 4:20 p.m. The NPS, with the assistance of many individual volunteers and the Environmental Protection Agency, will provide recycling at six locations along the National Mall as well as providing roving staff to collect recyclables, including paper, aluminum cans and plastic bottles. Glass bottles are not permitted within the Independence Day celebrations.
The 41st annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival, co-sponsored by the NPS, continues its run on the National Mall from 11:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. between 7th and 14th streets. Evening performances are from 5:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. This year’s festival will celebrate the living traditional cultures of the Mekong Delta, where many Americans now trace their ancestry from many Southeast Asian countries, the culture of Northern Ireland and “the roots of Virginia culture,” with focus on the 400th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown, VA.
For more information on A Capital Fourth, please go to:
http://www.pbs.org/capitolfourth/
For more information on the Folklife Festival, please visit:
http://www.folklife.si.edu/festival/2007/index.html
|
