Free food, live music, family activities in Platte City
Consider it a return to gathering. Local public events are back on.
A mid-day downtown event has been created as part of the celebration of July 4th in Platte City this year.
Mayor Tony Pailillo announced Tuesday that this will be a special July 4th celebration in Platte City.
“There will be a free community celebration in downtown Platte City starting in the late morning on the 4th, with our fireworks display just after dark,” he said.
Paolillo said the city is working with other community agencies to return the fireworks display back into town. The past several years the fireworks display has taken place at Platte Ridge Park, which is located north of Platte City off of Hwy. 371.
“I hope to announce the fireworks display location within the next two weeks,” the mayor said on Tuesday. And then on Thursday, May 13, city officials confirmed the site of the nighttime fireworks will be at the Platte County R-3 School District football stadium in Platte City.
“It’s been a very tough year, ” Paolillo remarked. “This is a way for the community to come together and celebrate America with a free event including food, live music, and family activities. Hopefully we can also move the fireworks display back in town after four years out in the county.”
The downtown portion of the celebration will take place mid-day.
“The downtown event will be held on Main Street and the Platte County Courthouse lawn from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and will include a wide range of food, a live band on the courthouse steps, performances by youth groups, and lots of family activities including a bounce house, an inflatable obstacle course, balloon art, caricature sketches, temporary tattoos and face painting,” the mayor said.
“There may be more announcements as we continue to work on bringing additional activities to the event,” he added.
Everything will be free to the public.
“The increasing vaccination rate and the updated health department guidance on outdoor events provides an opportunity for the community to gather outdoors in a much safer environment than we have experienced over the past year,” Paolillo stated.
“Platte City is holding this July 4th event to celebrate a return to gathering together as a full community. The city is fortunate that sales tax revenue, including parks and recreation tax, has held steady over the past 15 months. Hosting this event allows the city to use those recreation funds to help make up, in a small way, for many of the community events that have been cancelled or curtailed since March of last year,” the mayor said.
Shuttle buses will run from the Platte County R-3 High School main entrance, as parking is limited in the downtown area.
The city fireworks display will be held at its normal time just after dark.