Fireworks over the Peninsula: Here's your guide to Door County Fourth of July celebrations

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3 days ago

Get ready for fireworks and a whole lot more in Door County as communities across the Peninsula celebrate the Fourth of July holiday.
Six communities on the Peninsula host fireworks shows July 3 and 4, along with all the other festivities that go with celebrating Independence Day – parades, food (including strawberries, fish sandwiches and pancakes), live music, arts and crafts, and more. All that isn't counting an independent fireworks show in one community leading into the holiday weekend and another community fireworks celebration a week later. And special cruises are available to watch some of these shows from the water.
Here's your guide to Fourth of July celebrations in Door County.
The Fourth of July fireworks season in Door County opens July 2 with "Explosions of Fun" over the harbor in Fish Creek. It isn't officially presented by a community organization, but it's reportedly one of the most spectacular on the Peninsula.
The show is largely the work of local residents Tracy Alpert (owner of Rummele's Jewelers) and Michelle Gentine, funded to a great extent by contributions from businesses and private donors. Alpert said she started the show several years ago after the Fish Creek Civic Association decided to not hold a Fourth of July celebration following 2018 and she wanted her four children to continue celebrating the holiday in the traditional way.
The fireworks launch at dusk from a barge in the bay. It has proven colorful enough in the past that a local boat tour company will hold a special fireworks cruise for the show (see below). There isn't a public celebration, although Alpert and Gentine hold a private party for donors to the show, and the public can watch the fireworks from the shores of the waterfront, especially at Clark Park and Fish Creek Beach.
For information on donating to the fireworks, call Alpert at 920-868-2121.
The only Fourth of July fireworks show in Southern Door is this annual celebration sponsored by the Maplewood Athletic Club on Thursday, July 3.
The fireworks start at dusk (about 9:30 p.m.), and the athletic club will operate the concession stand throughout the evening. Parking, and the best viewing sites, are available at Baumann Ball Park next to Forestville Town Hall, 7705 County H, just west of State 42. Rain date is July 4.
For more information, visit forestvilletown.wi.gov.
It takes two days for the Egg Harbor Business Association to hold its annual Independence Day Celebration, with not just fireworks one night but also a parade the next day.
The festivities begin with food and refreshments starting at 4 p.m. Thursday, July 3 at Harbor View Park, 7809 State 42, with popular local country band Modern Day Drifters on stage at the park at 5 p.m. The business association also holds its every-Thursday Rhythm & Roots Marketplace, its weekly farmers market and concert-in-the-park series, at the outdoor Peg Egan Performing Arts Center, 7840 Church St., with the market starting at 4 p.m. and music by pop/jazz duo Spike and April at 5 p.m.
The day closes with what organizers have said for years is one of Wisconsin's most spectacular fireworks shows over the harbor at dusk. Fireworks will be shot from a barge in the harbor, with Egg Harbor Beach (County G and Alpine Road), Harbor View Park and the hill at the Egan PAC among prime viewing spots.
Friday, July 4 sees the traditional parade at 1:30 p.m. through downtown Egg Harbor, heading south along State 42 from the north end of Church Street to County T. Members of the University of Wisconsin Marching Band will not only be part of the parade but also perform the band's renowned Fifth Quarter routine in Harbor View Park after the parade. Food and refreshments again will be available in the park, starting at 11 a.m. and continuing after the parade.
Those who want to be in the parade can be in the parade – no registration is necessary. Participants simply need to be on the north end of Church Street by 12:30 p.m. to receive a copy of parade rules and line up.
For more information, call 920-868-3717 or visit eggharbordoorcounty.org.
In addition to the Fourth of July celebrations in downtown Egg Harbor, Birch Creek Music Performance Center holds its traditional matinee concert, "A Birch Creek Symphonic Fourth," at 3 p.m. July 4 in the 500-seat Dutton Concert Barn on its campus, 3 miles east of the village on County E.
Classical music and patriotic tunes will be played in the program by the Symphony Session students in Birch Creek's summer music academy and the professional musicians from across the country who teach them during the day. A free pie and ice cream social precedes the concert at 2 p.m.
General admission tickets are $33 for adults, $10 students, free for ages 11 and younger; premium seats are sold out. For tickets or more information, call 920-868-3763 or visit birchcreek.org.
A parade, strawberries, pancakes, art and crafts, and fireworks mark the Baileys Harbor Community Association's annual Fourth of July Celebration on Friday, July 4.
Kicking off the festivities is the traditional pancake breakfast served by the Baileys Harbor Fire Department from 7:30 to 10 a.m. at the fire station, 2404 Park Road. Also, Immanuel Lutheran Church will have homemade cinnamon and pecan rolls and coffee for sale starting at 8 a.m. and lasting until they're sold out.
If that's not enough food to start the day, there's also the annual Strawberry Fest sponsored by the Baileys Harbor Women's Club. With fresh strawberries, shortcake and other strawberry treats for sale, it starts at 10 a.m. in the auditorium at Town Hall, 2392 County F, and runs until 2 p.m. or the berries are gone. Proceeds from the event, which the club has held every year since 1968, go to the club's college scholarships for graduating high school students.
Local food vendors will open for business at 9 a.m. in the parking lot at Town Hall and the beer tent also opens at 9 a.m. in Kendall Park.
Also at Town Hall, an arts and crafts fair will be held on the lawn starting at 9 a.m.
The parade starts at 10 a.m. and heads along State 57 through the community. After the parade, at about 11 a.m., popular blues-rock band Cathy Grier + the Troublemakers performs in Kendall Park until 3 p.m.
Restaurants in the community will be open for dinner, of course, and Immanuel Lutheran offers more food with sandwiches and snacks for sale from 5 to 7 p.m.
Closing the day's activities is the spectacular fireworks show over Anclam Park on the Lake Michigan shore at dusk. Watchers aren't allowed on the park beach during the fireworks – it's a fallout zone for the aerial explosives – but the community association says the show will be easily visible throughout the harbor.
For more information, call 920-839-2366 or visit baileysharbor.com.
Destination Sturgeon Bay brings the music, food, refreshments and fireworks with its annual "Sturgeon Bay Celebrates the Fourth of July!" July 4 along the waterfront at Sunset Park, 737 N. Third Ave.
Food and beverages are served starting at 5 p.m., with 11 different food trucks and vendors on hand for almost any taste buds. Destination Sturgeon Bay will also sell Culver's frozen custard and an assortment of beverages. Those attending can get into the spirit with red, white and blue glow sticks that will be available for sale.
Live music is provided by cover rock band Glas Hamr, taking the stage at 6 p.m. and performing until the fireworks begin at dusk (around 9:15 p.m.). Viewing points can be found all around the water.
For more information, call 920-743-6246 or visit sturgeonbay.net.
A different kind of Fourth of July parade – one in the water – is among the highlights of the annual Fourth of July celebration at the tip of the Peninsula in Gills Rock.
The festivities take place at the town park from 5 to 10 p.m. Friday, July 4, with live music and food and beverages for sale, including a whitefish sandwich fry fundraiser for Death's Door Maritime Museum, the Gills Rock satellite site of the Door County Maritime Museum that focuses on the Peninsula's commercial fishing traditions.
The traditional boat parade in the bay starts at Gills Rock Marina about an hour before dusk (around 7:30 p.m.), with fireworks starting at dusk.
For more information, call 920-854-5448 or visit doorcountynorth.org.
Across Death's Door from the Door County mainland, Washington Island's fireworks show starts at dusk July 4 at the Washington Island Ball Park on Main Road. They're sponsored by the Washington Island Fire Department, and firefighters will "pass the boot" around for donations to offset the cost.
Leading into the fireworks, a children's parade will take place along Main Road from Legion Hall to the ball park at about 7 p.m. All children are welcome to take part by being at Legion Hall before the start, and they can walk, ride wagons, wave flags, whatever they want to show their Fourth of July spirit.
For more information, call 920-847-2179 or visit washingtonisland.com. For information on the ferries you need to get to and from the Island, call 920-847-2546 or visit wisferry.com.
The Sister Bay Advancement Association has for several years held its annual Freedom Fest party and fireworks show a Saturday or two after the Fourth and does so again with fireworks at dusk July 12 at Marina Park. For more information, call 920-854-3230 or visit sisterbay.com.
Sister Bay Scenic Boat Tours and Fish Creek Scenic Boat Tours have offered special cruises to Fourth of July to various fireworks shows off the Door County shore for a number of years.
Sister Bay Scenic Boat Tours' July 4 cruises to the Egg Harbor and Gills Rock fireworks are sold out, but space is available as of June 24 for the July 12 cruise to the Freedom Fest fireworks in Sister Bay. This cruise, aboard a double-decker boat with bathrooms, full accessibility, snacks and a nonalcoholic bar, departs at 8:30 p.m. from the company's dock at Sister Bay Marina. Tickets are $42.
Fish Creek Scenic Boat Tours' fireworks cruise to Egg Harbor also is sold out, but it has a 9 p.m. July 2 cruise to view fireworks along the Fish Creek shore put on by a group of local people and organizations. Its new Death's Door Boat Tours also has space as of June 24 for its cruise out of the Gills Rock Marina to the Gills Rock fireworks July 4. Each features live music, and guests can bring their own food and beverages. Tickets are $45.
Reservations are strongly recommended and guests should consider bringing a jacket for the nighttime chill. For more information on Sister Bay Scenic Boat Tours, call 920-421-4444 or visit doorcountyboats.com. For more on Fish Creek Scenic Boat Tours and Death's Door Boat Tours, call 920-421-4442 or visit doorcountybywater.com or doorcountybywater.com/deathsdoorboattours.
Contact Christopher Clough at 920-562-8900 or [e-mail].
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This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Here's your guide to Door County Fourth of July fireworks, celebrations