The 4th of July is this Sunday and that means plenty of Independence Day celebrations will be going on in and around Wichita Falls.

Of course the biggest celebration will be the Fourth In The Falls event on Sunday evening, but things actually get started on Saturday.

Saturday's Wichita Falls Events

The 3rd of July Celebration and Most Patriotic Parade at the Kell House starts bright and early at 7:15 a.m. with a Firecracker Mile running event organized by the Midwestern State Track & Cross Country Club. Adult runners will start at either 7:25 or 8:00 a.m. depending on their speed, and there will be a half-mile run for kids 11 and under beginning at 7:45 a.m. There will be a post-race party and awards from 8:15 until 9:00, and then the Kell House event takes over.

The Most Patriotic Parade begins at 9:00 (registration at 8:15) and will run along 9th Street starting a 9th and Ohio, making its way up the hill to the Kell House Museum at 9th and Bluff. Entry in the parade is free and First and Second place ribbons will be awarded in several categories.

After the parade the Kell House will host an old fashioned salute to America with the Pledge of Allegiance, face painting, a cake walk, yard games and more.

Sunday's Wichita Falls Events

The celebrations really crank up on Sunday, July 4th, with the biggest party of all being the Fourth In The Falls event at the MPEC in downtown Wichita Falls.

This is a free, city-wide event held on the grounds of the MPEC with a car show, food trucks, drink vendors, a Cool Kidz Fun Zone, live music from Desperado and XFactor, and a huge fireworks display at dusk. The gates will open at 6:00 and the fireworks should begin around 9:30 p.m. If you can't make it out to the MPEC but do have a good view of the fireworks display you can listen to the official soundtrack of patriotic music during the display on 102.3 The Bull.

Another great place to watch the fireworks will be the downtown streets outside the Wichita Falls Brewing Company.

Their Independence Day celebration starts at noon with a food truck, a giant waterslide, and live entertainment from Bailey Julian up until time to watch the fireworks.

The Wichita Falls Country Club will also be holding a fireworks display on Sunday evening. Members can go onto the Country Club grounds to watch, others can watch from the nearby streets.

Sunday Area Events

The City of Burkburnett is holding a Celebrate Freedom '21 event at Friendship Park on Sunday.

This free event boasts food trucks, snow cones, live music from Cody Hibbard and special guest Cody Shaw & The Rhythm Boys, and a fireworks display around 9:30 p.m.

If creating your own celebration is more your style you can head over to Planet Fireworks across from the Jolly truck stop for their Stop & Pop event.

Since shooting fireworks off inside city limits is not only illegal but also a major fire hazard, Planet Fireworks has set up an event where you can buy the fireworks of your choice, then shoot them off in a designated 'Safe Zone' area with the Jolly Fire Department and the Clay County Sheriff's Department supervising and making sure that no wildfires get started from your celebration.

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However you choose to celebrate your Independence Day, be sure to take a moment to thank those who've worn a uniform from any branch of our military for giving us the freedoms and liberties that we enjoy every day.

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