Celebrate July 4th At OIB

As our nation prepares to celebrate its 241st anniversary of its independence, locals are preparing for their fourth of July celebrations as well. Of course, you can always have a good old-fashioned cookout in your backyard to celebrate our nation’s birthday, but if you’re looking for a bigger shindig then we’ve got some ideas on where you can go to celebrate July 4th:

Ocean Isle Beach, NC

We all love the July 4^th  at Ocean Isle Beach every year, but you have something else to look forward to this year! A fireworks display will take place from the Ocean Isle Beach Pier on July 3rd at approximately 9 PM.

The fireworks display will last approximately 20 minutes. Viewers will be able to the display from the pier, the beach, or anywhere on the Island.

The annual 4th of July parade will take place on Tuesday, July 4th featuring decorated golf carts and bicycles will begin at 10 am. Participants should meet in the parking lot of the Museum Planetarium at 9:15. The parade will head down second street down to Lee Street. With all these great activities planned, Ocean Isle Beach will be the place to be this Independence Day!

 

Sunset Beach, NC

Start the holiday right with a parade over the Old Bridge! Beginning at 9:00 a.m. members of the Old Bridge Preservation Society have planned fun and festivities for visitors and residents of Sunset Beach. With patriotic music playing and flags waving at the Old Bridge Museum, 109 Shoreline Drive W, Sunset Beach, there are a number of activities planned that are kid-tested and approved. Please join us in this annual traditional start to the holiday.

Starting at 9:00 a.m. children (and adults) are encouraged to bring their decorated bicycles, wagons, strollers or sneakers to ride or march across the Old Bridge in step to rousing patriotic music. This parade is a perfect photo opportunity for grandparents and parents to capture the children in all of their red, white, and blue splendor.

Immediately following the parade, volunteers from the Old Bridge Preservation Society have planned stations with adult supervised good old-fashioned, All-American games and activities. After participating in the parade and games, people are sure to be hungry and there will be light refreshments available.

For many familiar with Sunset Beach and the Old Bridge, the parade over the Old Bridge on the Fourth of July has become a family tradition. So plan to start Independence Day 2016 at the Old Bridge in Sunset Beach, 109 Shoreline Drive West, Sunset Beach! This event is weather dependent so for the latest information, please visit the Old Bridge Preservation Society website at oldbridgepreservationsociety.org or call 910-363-6585. We hope to see you there!

 

Calabash NC

Come celebrate Independence Day and see the Fireworks display on Monday, July 4th at the Calabash Waterfront, next to Captain John’s Seafood House.  Festivities begin at 6 pm with entertainment byCalabash Fire Department’s very own Jimmy “Two Wraps” Bruno.  Fireworks begin around 9:15 pm.

 

Southport, NC 

The patriotic spirit of America is alive and well in the City of Southport. For over 200 years this small maritime community has celebrated our nation’s independence in a big way. The celebration has grown from colonial times when ships lay anchor in her harbor and shot their cannons to today’s festival where 40,000 to 50,000 people come each year to bathe in the richness of spirit commemorating Old Glory. Incorporated as the N.C. 4th of July Festival in the year 1972 the festival committee strives to keep the focus of the festival on honoring our nation’s birthday with a little fun thrown in.

This year there will be arts and crafts booth, food vendors, a 5k Freedom Run/Walk, a televised parade, the Brunswick Band Concert, live entertainment, fireworks, a national art show, children’s games and entertainment, pancake breakfast, sandcastle building contest, horseshoe, volleyball and shag contests.

The festival goes from July 1st through July 4^th, and admission is free.

For more information contact Southport-Oak Island Area Chamber of Commerce or visit www.nc4thofjuly.com

 

Oak Island, NC

Held July 1st, the annual Oak Island Beach Day offers live entertainment, dozens of family contests, and inflatables from 8am – 9pm at Middleton Park located at 46th Street SE , Oak Island, NC.

The N.C. 4th of July Festival Beach Day is a full day of activities on Oak Island designed for the whole family. If sand sculpture building, volleyball, skateboard, bocce ball contests sound like fun then you will really enjoy Beach Day.  But the fun doesn’t stop with the contests, there is also evening entertainment and shag contest.
Held annually on July 1st, the celebration combines the merger of the Towns of Yaupon Beach & Long Beach into the Town of Oak Island with the celebration of our Independence Day festivities.  Beach Day activities are organized and sponsored by the Oak Island Parks & Recreation Department.

The Shag Contest is organized by the Society of Brunswick Shaggers.  What is shag dancing? The “Carolina Shag” originated along the area between Myrtle Beach, SC, and Wilmington, NC in the 1940s and is still popular today. A couple’s dance, the Carolina Shag, a descendant of the Carolina Jitterbug, is performed while enjoying beach music. Registration for the Shag Contest is from 6:00p.m.-6:45 p.m. at Middleton Park Extension Soccer Field.  The Shag Contest will be held during the band’s break around 7:00 p.m. in Middleton Park Extension.  Free to enter but registration form required.

There will not be Oak Island Anniversary Fireworks on Oak Island during Beach Days in 2017.