Freedom rang from Forks to Port Townsend as thousands of North Olympic Peninsula residents celebrated Independence Day in spirited American song, colorful grand parades and flashing fireworks.
Parade-goers lined the main streets in downtown Forks and Port Angeles on Sunday.
Earlier Sunday, smaller community parades also rolled through Diamond Point, east of Sequim, and Four Seasons Ranch, east of Port Angeles.
Forks residents, under overcast but warm weather conditions, saw a parade of 83 entries and a demolition derby that featured a car smashing into a boat.
Kiddy parade
The celebration also brought a kiddy parade, a Lions Club salmon bake at Tillicum Park and Music in the Park until dusk, when a fireworks display took over the skies above the park.
Port Angeles parade-goers watched 70 entries celebrate Clallam County’s 150th anniversary in a colorful stream that included clubs, organizations and merchants advertising their services.
The parade, organized by the Port Angeles Chamber of Commerce, was sponsored by Olympic Bank.
A steady lineup of musical acts highlighted the afternoon on Port Angeles’ City Pier. The evening was capped off by Grand North American Champion Fiddler Ivonne Hernandez, just before fireworks soared into spectacular burst of color over Port Angeles Harbor.
Community picnic
In Sequim, Independence Day festivities planned by the Museum and Arts Center featured a community picnic at Carrie Blake Park.
A flag-raising ceremony launched the day’s events that also featured entertainment, food booths, clowns, games and a classic car exhibit.
The days entertainment included a banjo group, cloggers and the Edelweiss Accordion band.
Diamond Point residents had a little parade fun in outrageous costumes and cool cars and other silly contraptions.
Port Townsend feted the Fourth with kayak and bike trips from Fort Worden State Park and Centrum’s Festival of American Fiddle Tunes.
The festival’s first day drew big crowds to see performances by Tracy Schwarz and Ginny Hawker, Irish fiddler Tommy Peoples, Canadian Metis fiddler John Arcand and Calum Mackinnon and Laura Risk, Scottish and Celtic fiddlers.
The fiddle fest runs again next weekend.
The day was topped off by family games, a performance by the Port Townsend Band, and a fireworks display.
Both Fort Worden and Point Hudson were described as packed with revelers Sunday evening as dusk fell on the Peninsula.
