By Harriet Baskas, contributor
The sputtering economy has put the kibosh on lavish July 4th fireworks in many cities around the country. But from Hawaii to Florida plenty of towns are refusing to let the recession fizzle out a holiday that traditionally sizzles.
So pack a picnic and some sparklers; here are some classic or quirky events where they’re celebrating freedom in style.
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Folks in Gatlinburg, Tenn., just can’t wait to celebrate July 4th. So they don’t: the town’s 4th of July parade begins at 12:01 a.m., the first minute of July 4th.
This year’s midnight parade, the 34th, will have floats, entertainment, and fireworks, and a special reenactment of the presidential motorcade that traveled through Gatlinburg back in 1940, when Franklin D. Roosevelt officially dedicated the area’s Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Gatlinburg also hosts an annual July 4th River Raft Regatta featuring a fleet of wacky, unmanned crafts and, finally, an hour after sundown, a fireworks extravaganza.
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Philadelphia’s Sunoco Welcome America! Festival celebration lasts ten days, stretches over two weekends, and is filled with fireworks, free concerts (Sheryl Crow headlines on July 4th), the Taste of Philadelphia, a parade through Historic Philadelphia, and an ice cream extravaganza.
This year, from July 2-5, the city will also be celebrating the bicentennial of President Abraham Lincoln’s birth.
LINCOLN 200, at Independence Visitor Center, will include living history demonstrations and a display of artifacts, including a cast of Lincoln’s hands and face, and a lock of his hair.
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For the 18th year in a row, Oahu’s giant shopping mall, the Ala Moana Center, will host a July 4th celebration featuring live island musical performances (and a load of shopping specials) during the day and, at night, Hawaii’s largest fireworks display.
The 20-minute show uses more than 1,8000 shells fired from three separate platforms and includes crowd pleasers such as “Swimming Fish,” “Giant Glittering Rainbow,” “Happy Faces,” and “Tumbling Dice.”
Along with a few high-in-the-sky-surprises, the show’s soundtrack includes Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA,” Israel Kamakawiwo‘ole’s “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” and other favorites.
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This July 4th, the patriotic and proud city of Providence will unveil a statue of native son George M. Cohan, who wrote “Yankee Doodle Dandy,” “You’re a Grand Old Flag,” and other American classics.
Evening events will include live music and fireworks out at India Point Park, but many revelers will celebrate downtown by watching fireworks from a gondola gliding down the river or by gathering around the city’s unusual art installation, WaterFire, which includes fire, of course, but also music and the sound and smell of crackling cedar.
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George and Martha Washington will be on hand July 4th at George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate & Gardens to oversee 18th-century military reenactments, a reading of the Declaration of Independence, and a naturalization ceremony for 100 of the country’s newest citizens.
In addition to free birthday cake, there will a performance by the National Concert Band of America, an 80-member company of retired musicians from each of the U.S. Armed Services’ bands.
Be sure to stick around for the end of the concert, which should be around 12:45 p.m. During the finale, there will be an unusual display of daytime smoke fireworks in patriotic colors.
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In the mid 1970’s, maestro Arthur Fiedler kicked off what is now a New England Independence Day tradition: a free Boston Pops concert at the Hatch Shell on the Esplanade that ends with Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, cannons, church bells and an impressive display of fireworks.
This year another classic, pop icon Neil Diamond, will appear at the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular and perform with the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra for the more than 500,000 people who pack the Charles River Esplanade and the six million others who watch the show on TV.
The 21-minute fireworks finale will use more than 20,000 pounds of explosives and include 10-inch diameter shells that will climb to 1,500 feet.
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Now in its 28th year, the Lights on the Lake fireworks display in South Lake Tahoe, Nevada. is consistently billed as one of the West Coast’s largest July 4th extravaganzas.
It is certainly one of the most scenic: set at 6,300 feet, an alpine lake stretches across the California/Nevada border, offering a perfect backdrop for an over-the-top fireworks display launched from an offshore barge.
The 20-minute show can be seen for miles and uses about 3,000 3-to-12 inch aerial shells to create more than 16,000 effects.
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There are no cars allowed on North Carolina’s bucolic Bald Head Island. Residents and visitors get around by bike, on skates, on foot, or in electric golf carts.
During the July 4th weekend, events include the Cardboard Boat Regatta, Family Olympics, and fireworks, but the highlight is the 4th of July Golf Cart Parade.
Each year, more than 100 golf carts are decorated to look like alligators, pirate ships, fish, and anything but golf carts for a parade through town. Prizes include: Best in Show, Tacky Tourist, and Most Patriotic.
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In the northern California town of Clearlake, everyone looks forward to the car show, the barbecue, the parade and the July 4th fireworks show.
But what really gets folks wriggling with anticipation is the Clearlake International Worm Races.
Contestants can bring their own well-trained worms from home (either night crawlers or red worms) or take their chances with a racer plucked from the Clearlake worm stables. As with other sports, steroids and other drugs are strictly prohibited, but placing a good-natured side bet on the outcome of a race is not.
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In central Florida, cartoon characters may join the special Independence Day celebrations planned throughout the Disney World Resort, at most every Orlando-area theme park, and at Lake Eola in downtown Orlando.
In southwest Florida, it will be the Coast Guard that shows up when hundreds of swimmers hit the waters for the 18th annual Freedom Swim across Charlotte Harbor in Punta Gorda.
Promoted as more of a community-happening than a real race, some people float the 1.5 miles on rafts or foam noodles, some swim the course in red, white, and blue swim suits, while others celebrate a day of freedom and independence by swimming in the buff.
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