One Way The City Of Knoxville, Tn, Does 4th of July

Highlighting East Tennessee, and the amazing things that happen here.

Yesterday, was the second year in a row my family celebrated the 4th Of July at the World's Fair Park in Knoxville, for multiple reasons. Of all the holidays, American Independence Day is the one holiday that we celebrate that I take a back seat to, delegate duties, and stress less about.

The city of Knoxville helps me plan a fun and affordable day for all of my family, even my young children, and they end it with a giant bang at the end of the night when the sun sets with an amazing fireworks show accompanied by a classical orchestra.

I know that on the 4th of July, entertainment for the day is taken care of at the World's Fair Park.

Not only does Knoxville have a free, chlorinated splash pad that sits next to a rather large park that has a squishy blacktop and TONS of playground equipment for children of all sizes and ages.

There are plenty of trees for shade. Just beyond that is an expansive field, that I assume is used for sports sometimes, and buildings of many uses (mostly the entrance to the civics center, theatres, and other buildings that are clustered around large events).

The streets are cut off from traffic on this day, making it a safe environment. Dotted around the area are vendors. Some of them, such as the axe throwing, mini-golf, the news and radio stations that are giving away beach balls, patriotic medals, and other little trinkets and souvenirs for the kids are completely free. The exception to this gesture is the food vendors. Ice cream, tacos, shaved ice, burgers and nachos, a coffee truck, and other manners of food vendors line the main street.

It's nice for a treat. But before we head out to the park, I usually take the time to separate duties for the adults. We start saving money by having our grilling done and packing a cooler with ice and lots of drinks. Snacks, grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, potato salads, and desserts of cookies and a very southern American blackberry and peach cobbler.

We take our massive bubble-blowing machine (because we always sit in the grassy area of the park right between the splash pad and the park), and leave it running all day for the kids (our own and the hoards of others... and the occasional human who has taken an unknown hallucinagetic and they dance in our bubbles like the happiest hippy). Some hoola hoops and we arrive in our bathing suits, slathered in sunscreen that we take care to reapply several times throughout the day. We take an iPad and a portable charger for when the younger kids are tired and need to take a break.

When the sun finally sets...about 9:30, all the lights and the splash pad gets turned off. And in the direction of the Sun Sphere, the masses wait quietly, until the beginning of orchestra music begins to echo from the giant screen that shows the orchestra camp a few miles away, and fireworks fill the sky.

We come home exhausted from a day of running, squealing, and terrorizing each other in the splash pad and the playground, with proudly earned pinked singed skin and the children complaining that they WANT to go to bed (the ONLY day of the year that happens by the way) and talking about how pretty the fireworks are.

I look forward to next 4th of July with my family. Thank you city of Knoxville... for making this mom have at least one holiday where she isn't stressed to the max and she gets to participate in the family fun!

Time is precious, thank you so much for taking some to read my article. I hope you enjoyed it and it proved useful in some way!

Find my fictional fantasy book "Memoirs of the In-Between" on Amazon in paperback, eBook, and hardback.

You can also find it in the Apple Store or on the Campfire Reading app.