SEQUIM — When 55 performers take the stage for Independence Day, it’ll be all about “pure fun,” says the man in the red, white and blue top hat.
He’s Paul Martin, narrator of the Sequim City Band’s Fourth of July concert at 3 p.m. Saturday.
As ever, the event is free and family-friendly at the James Center for the Performing Arts, 563 N. Rhodefer Road just north of Carrie Blake Park.
Conductor Tyler Benedict will lead the band in the “American Salute” based on “When Johnny Comes Marching Home,” the “Silverado” Western fanfare, John Philip Sousa’s “Fugue on Yankee Doodle” and “Esprit De Corps” march and, as is the band’s tradition, the Armed Forces Salute honoring the men and women in the audience and band who have served in the U.S. military.
The concert will also have “Sing For America,” an audience sing-along that could be quite the rousing number. In past years, the Sequim City Band’s July 4 event has drawn a healthy crowd: “One year it got to 500, and we stopped counting,” said Benedict.
The show is just an hour, he added, so it gives people time to go to the
6 p.m. Fourth of July parade through downtown Port Angeles if they’re
so inclined.
Concert-goers are encouraged to bring lawn chairs and picnic fare and, with a forecast for sun Saturday, sunscreen and hats are advised.
To find out more about the band’s free concerts through summer and fall, see SequimCityBand.org.
