July 4th Freedom Celebration Rundown

Thursday marks the return of the Champaign County Freedom Celebration on the University of Illinois' Urbana campus.

The community-wide celebration kicks off with a 5K race/walk onthe  east side of Assembly Hall on Fourth Street at approximately 9:05am.

Then at 11:05am, a parade begins near First & Florida streets.

Evening entertainment will include live music, childrens activites, and different vendors. The musical entertainment will be on the main stage located along Kirby Ave between First & Oak Streets starting at 7pm.

Finally, fireworks go off at 9:15pm from Parking Lot E-14, across from the State Farm Center. That lot will be closed, but the public can view fireworks from there.

Freedom Celebration President Ginny Schlorff says there should also be more vantage points to see the display.

“Every family finds a different spot," she said. "But (as for) U of I parking – you can park on streets.  There’s just so many places to park here.  We’ve got the viewing area, we’ve got the vendors, we’ve got the band set up in the area west of Memorial Stadium.  Back in the years bygone, that’s where people watched the fireworks from.”

Coordinators say having the event back to an area near the State Farm Center brings an advantage for parking, seeing the annual fireworks display, and exiting the site.