The 4th of July Celebration is Wellington’s longest-running and most popular event. The show even went on amid 2020’s pandemic, albeit just for the fireworks. With Fort Collins canceling their celebrations for the second year, Wellington is expecting the biggest turnout yet.
Wellington’s Mayor Troy Hamman, a 40 year resident of the community, shares his fondness for this holiday: “I can say the 4th of July in our town is a defining moment on an annual basis. It is a time to celebrate our country’s heritage and independence together. The level of pride and community exhibited is what makes us great! As a kid, it was one of those weekends that we waited for with such anticipation; the amount of activity, the events, the great parade, fireworks, and the turnout of families and friends. People come from all over to be in our town for the weekend and take in the festivities. It truly is high energy and a time you don’t want to miss out on.”
Sunday, July 4, 2021, the fun kicks off with a parade through downtown Wellington from 10 am to 11 am. The route will be along the traditional Cleveland Ave, First St., and Fifth st. Sign up by June 11, 2021, if you would like to enter the parade.
The theme for this year’s parade is ‘Honoring Our Hometown Workers’. “The past year was an unusual one, and we wanted to take this opportunity to recognize the people that we felt stepped up. The ones who don’t usually get recognized, our grocery workers, gas station workers, banks, etc.,” shares Jim Lafferty, the coordinator for the parade. The grand marshals’ will be several workers from Ridleys Market, representing all the ones who worked behind the scenes and kept us going through the pandemic.
Big changes for this year include a move to Wellington Community Park, on the north side of Wellington. This is Wellington’s newest park, completed in Spring of 2016, and its 30 acres are filled with fun activities for the whole family. The address is 8760 Buffalo Creek Parkway, Wellington, CO 80549.
Festivities kick off in Wellington Community Park at 11:00 am and go on until 6:00 pm. There will be vendor booths, bounce houses, family games, food trucks, and drinks for all ages. The car show starts at 11 am, with awards presented at 2:00 pm. You can register your vehicle on the CAC webpage.
The American Legion is sponsoring the beer garden with local Cantina Liquor, Soul Squared Brewing, Sparge Brewing, and Budweiser among the list of confirmed. Food trucks signed up are Nino’s Concession, Redemption Road Coffee, Fork Yeah Food Truck, A-Maize’n Kettle Corn, The Waffle Lab, Slurpz Teas and Sweets, The Cakery, and the Human Bean. Ace Entertainment will keep the beats pumping in the park. Family games include musical chairs, three-legged and potato sack races, karaoke, and much more.
Honoring the Fallen and Adopt-A-Flag event, put on by American Electrical Innovations, with the cooperation of many local businesses, will fill Centennial Park with 800 flags starting in the early hours of July 4. So done for remembrance and recognition of all USA nationwide Military, First Responders, and Police Officers, who lost their lives in the line of duty over the last year. There are sponsorship and donation opportunities available, and you can email admin@aeinnovations.co for more information.
And of course, the fireworks! The display goes off from the usual location near Wellington Middle school. An audio-video presentation begins at 9:15 pm, and the fireworks start afterward, around 9:40 pm. So pull up a chair and watch from anywhere.
For more information on the event, signing up for the parade, or for the car show, please visit https://www.wellingtoncolorado.gov/166/Community-Activities-Commission.
Mayor Hamman shares “a special thanks to all the volunteers and Community board members that help to put on a great 4th of July celebration.” In Wellington, we have the volunteer-run Community Activities Commission (CAC) to thank for putting on this annual event. CAC volunteers have been hard at work making sure this show goes on. In addition, Trailhead Church offered over 30 volunteers from a mission team coming into town for their grand opening event.
This author moved to Wellington in 2007. The 4th of July celebration was the first event attended and the moment when I knew I found a community to call home. The vibe of a rural small town, the childlike joy of being in a parade, and the magnificent fireworks show lighting up the Front Range. I visited other community celebrations over the years, and nothing compares. So if you haven’t experienced the 4th of July in Wellington, make this year the first!
Originally published in North Forty News