July 4th is still over a month away, but many people have been voicing their concerns over the annual parade and fireworks show in Manitowoc, and whether or not it would still be going on.
Mayor Justin Nickels went to Facebook this morning to ensure the community “The City of Manitowoc will still host the Independence Day parade and fireworks show on Saturday, July 4th.” However, all other events for that day have been canceled.
The Mayor’s full comments can be read below, along with a link to where you can register a float for the parade.
Fourth of July Parade and Fireworks:
The City of Manitowoc will still host the Independence Day parade and fireworks show on Saturday, July 4th. Other events scheduled for that day have been cancelled.
The parade will begin at 10:00am and will have an expanded route this year to encourage social distancing for viewers along the parade route. (no worries, we have gotten really good in all our other parades at “socially distancing” our floats in the parade, so we aren’t worried about that part). No candy or pamphlets will be allowed to be distributed from parade entries. Anyone interested in having a float should register here: https://www.manitowoc.org/2185/4th-of-July-Parade
The fireworks show will still be hosted by Festival Foods and will take place at dusk from the south pier. We are strongly encouraging families to consider watching from a different location this year to socially distance from others. Many cities are cancelling their shows in fear that people won’t adhere to social distancing. Let’s prove that we can still host some of these events safely! There are a plethora of areas along the lakeshore to view the fireworks safely this year.
Other events typically associated with Fourth on the Shore have already been cancelled by the respective groups that host them. Including the Yacht Club party, the Salmon Derby, and Subfest. There will also not be any bands throughout the day nor games for kids. We feel we can safely hold a parade and fireworks show, these other events have close proximities to others and that’s why they cancelled. The city does not host the July 3rd celebrations. However, as of now the city is not disallowing private special events in July.
PS. If I offended any parade floats with my social distancing comment….just laugh. We need more laughs these days.
