Three July 4th Parades in Columbia

In addition to the , Columbia will be hosting three parades on July 4th. 

13th Annual River Hill Parade

River Hill residents will be marching down Great Star Drive beginning at 9 a.m. The Village of River Hill website recommends that people coming to view the parade bring lawn chairs and blankets to set up along Great Star Drive.

Susan Smith, the River Hill Village manager, said local community groups such as Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Daisy troops and swim teams would be marching in the parade. 

Smith said a favorite feature of the parade is the Lawn Chair Marching Dads, a group of community residents who have formed a precision drill team that uses lawn chairs.

"They toss lawn chairs to one another," said Smith. "It's really quite entertaining."

The 5th District Volunteer Fire Department will lead off the parade and a reception for parade marchers will take place after the parade. A number of elected officials are scheduled to march, including Howard County school board candidates Janet Siddiqui, Ellen Flynn-Giles, Jackie Scott, David Gertler and Ann De Lacey.

The parade route will run from Guilford Road down Great Star Drive and end at Route 108. Great Star Drive will be closed to through traffic before and during the parade, according to the River Hill Village website. Smith said Great Star Drive would re-open around 11:30 a.m., after the conclusion of the parade.

Smith said the parade would be canceled only if thunderstorms or lightning appear.

Allview Area Civic Association Parade at Atholton Park

The Allview Area Civic Association (AACA) is welcoming residents to Atholton Park on Donleigh Drive for a small, "kid-focused" parade.

Events for the AACA parade include car decoarting, bike decorating or anything decorating at 10 a.m. with the parade scheduled to begin at noon. Awards will be presented for best float, best bike and best dressed.

County Executive Ken Ulman was scheduled to be on hand for this event, but canceled because he didn't feel comfortable celebrating while so many people in the county were dealing with a heat wave without power, according to his office.

Longfellow Neighborhood Parade

The 42nd annual Longfellow Neighborhood Parade will begin to line up at 9:30 a.m. at Longfellow Elementary School and then will wind its way down Hesperus onto Eliots Oak Road around 10 a.m., according to a column by Stan Ber of Explore Howard. The parade will feature Best Neighbor cars in the lead and the neighborhood puts together floats, decorates bicycles and swim teams and Boy Scouts march, according to Ber.

At noon, the annual softball game between the Hesperus Drive Wrecks and Eliots Oak Road Nuts will take place.

Other Events

Festivites at the Columbia Lakefront will begin at 5 p.m. and fireworks are set for dusk. Read the preview for that celebration .

Also, if you're up for leaving the county, the city of Catonsville in Baltimore County has a storied parade, for which they set up their lawn chairs weeks in advance. That parade begins at 3 p.m. on Frederick Road in Catonsville, find more information here.