8 ways to celebrate the Fourth around Baltimore

BALTIMORE (Map, News) - When it comes to Fourth of July parades, Bel Air resident Mike Blum says it best.

“There are beauty queens and politicians and mobile units, color guard, and people on bikes, and stilts, and clowns,” said the Bel Air Independence Day Parade Committee chairman. “It’s patriotic, it’s for the community, it’s traditional, and it’s something nice to do in the summer.”

Although fireworks are usually the expected symbol of Independence Day, there are several parades throughout Baltimore that have become tradition for local communities.

Blum estimates that about 40,000 people will swarm into Harford County for the Bel Air parade, which is celebrating its 44th year. “They just show up and line the streets,” he said. “But what I like most of all is seeing the little kids in the parade, on bikes, or on floats, or even the kids on the side of road, just having fun.”

Catonsville’s Fourth of July Parade has been marching since 1947. Catonsville Celebrations Communications Coordinator Maureen Sweeny Smith has been helping organize the parade for the past seven years. “I think the beginning is almost emotional, because you’ve got the sirens and the color guard, and we typically have a fly-over,” she said. “It just makes me glad that I live in Catonsville.”

For those who have children of the four-legged or furry variety, there’s the American Visionary Arts Museum’s Visionary Pets on Parade. For the past 12 years, the parade has welcomed dogs, cats, ferrets, turtles, rabbits, hermit crabs, even llamas, and their owners.

AVAM’s Pete Hilsee said there is no limit to what talents owners and their pets can show off. “We had Bun Bun, this beautiful rabbit, who on any other day had what you could only describe as a vacuous gaze, but on the Fourth, she incited an outbreak of peace and understanding in everyone she gazed upon,” he said. “People know that there are no boundaries to creativity here at AVAM, and that is extended to their beloved pets.”

ecampbell@baltimoreexaminer.com

AREA PARADES

American Visionary Arts Museum Visionary Pets on Parade; 10 a.m.; American Visionary Arts Museum, 800 Key Highway, Baltimore.

Annapolis Independence Day Celebration; 6 p.m.; West Street, Annapolis City Dock, Annapolis; 410-263-1183.

Bel Air Independence Day Celebration; 6 p.m.; Gordon and Bond streets, Bel Air.

Catonsville Fourth of July Parade; 3 p.m.; Frederick Road, Catonsville.

Dundalk Heritage Parade; 8:30 a.m.; Dunmanway at Playfield Street, Dundalk.

Columbia Fourth of July Festival; 5 to 10 p.m.; the Columbia Lakefront, Columbia; 410-313-7275.

Havre de Grace Fourth of July Celebration begins at 6 p.m.; Millard E. Tydings Park; Parade is at 2 p.m. Saturday; Havre de Grace; 410-939-2100.

Towson 4th of July Parade; 10:30 a.m.; Towsontown Blvd. and Bosley Ave., Towson; 410-832-2190.

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