4thFest comes to Coralville once again with events for everyone
By Levi Wright
Saturday through the Fourth of July, the 35th-annual 4thFest will take over Coralville in Morrison Park, 1513 Seventh St. 4thFest celebrates Independence Day all weekend long, starting with the 4thFest 5K and ending with fireworks on Independence Day after the sun sets.
Locally, 4thFest is known to be the largest Independence Day parade in the area.
Jennifer Coleman, the communications specialist for the city of Coralville, said groups are brought together through the parade, which is one reason it’s special to the community.
This year, 116 organizations, schools, businesses, and groups are represented in the parade.
“It’s simply a good feeling to see over 100 diverse groups from throughout Johnson County come together for a free community celebration,” Coleman said. “Watching the parade is also watching a piece of history.”
Community grand marshals are selected every year and are part of the parade based on their community service, dedication, and leadership, Coleman said. The 2017 marshals are Barry and Roxie Bedford; Barry retired this year after 44 years of service with the Coralville Police Department.
Aside from the parade, which begins at the intersection of 9th Street and 22nd Avenue on the 4th, the festival has different activities for many ages.
From year to year, fest-goers bring lawn chairs, blankets, and lunch coolers and have themselves a picnic, said Lynn Snyder, co-head of the event.
“I’m a lifelong resident of Coralville, so for me, it’s a great activity for people to do, celebrate the Fourth of July, which is also extremely important to do,” Snyder said. “We have a lot of activities for people to do, which makes Coralville a better place for people to live.”
In the spirit of Independence Day, there will be different patriotic events throughout the weekend including, the Fairfield National Guard band the Sidewinders playing. Eighth Street will be repainted red, white, and blue, and that will last all year until the next 4thFest. Local Boy Scouts will put up flags along the side of the street, adding to the patriotic atmosphere.
“When I first started back in 2001, the budget had increased,” said Paula Bakey, a co-head of 4thFest. “In fact, on my first day, they announced the free concert was going to be Three Dog Night. Well, our budget was able to get upped quite a bit. It used to be some smaller acts, fairly popular ones, but fairly smaller, not much mass appeal. So this was the biggest one we had up to that date, and then we got famous international bands.”
This year, the free concert stage will feature the Sidewinders and Tommy James & the Shondells. The latter has performed for more than 50 years, featuring such songs as “Hanky Panky” and “Crimson and Clover.” It has nine platinum records and 23 gold. Previous bands to perform on the Coralville stage include America, Kansas, and the Little River Band.
“The big event is the free concert in the park,” Bakey said. “A lot of families come and can just bring their lawn chairs and coolers and enjoy free concerts in the park.”
