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Date: 6/22/2022
NORTHAMPTON – After two lost years due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Northampton Family Fourth Celebration is back at Look Memorial Park on June 25 at 5 p.m.
According to Brenda Ryan, the chair of the Family Fourth committee, this is a family-friendly community event that will feature music, bounce houses, games, hot air balloons, food vendors and fireworks. Moose & The High Tops, a classic 70s and 80s cover rock band from Western Massachusetts, will perform, and a DJ will be present to play music in between.
Before the fireworks go off around 9 p.m., the Florence Community Band will be playing patriotic music, according to Ryan.
Parking will be available at JFK Middle School, and visitors will pay a $5 cash only donation to benefit the Northampton High School Athletic Booster Club. According to the Family Fourth website, there is a short walk from the middle school to Look Park. The park, however, will be closing at 4 p.m. for traffic reasons, which means no vehicles will be allowed inside after that time unless they have a valid handicapped permit or valid Family Fourth parking pass. Otherwise, people coming after 4 p.m. will have to bike or walk inside. There will be an area for people to park their bikes.
The cost to run this event has gone up due to inflation, so Ryan encourages people to visit their Facebook page and Family Fourth website to make any donations they can to keep the event running.
Overall, the event is free to the public and open to all ages.
“We appreciate any and all donations we can get,” Ryan told Reminder Publishing. “We’re definitely reaching out to people because we know next year that cost is going to be even more. In order to sustain this, we need to make sure those donations keep coming in.”
With the Family Fourth back in Northampton, Ryan anticipates around 12,000 people to attend. She told Reminder Publishing that the committee is excited to bring it back to the community. “It’s a huge event that really brings families together,” Ryan said. “It allows people to come and enjoy a wonderful day with their family.”
To learn more about this year’s event, people can follow the Family Fourth website with more updates at http://northamptonfamilyfourth.com/.