July 4 Facts and History

July 4 Facts and History

America's National Independence Day Parade takes place yearly on July 4th at 11:45 am in Washington, D.C., on Constitution Avenue from 7th to 17th Street before a street audience of hundreds of thousands of audience. The Parade consists of invited bands, fife and drum corps, floats, military and area of expertise units, giant balloons, equestrian, drill teams, VIP's, national dignitaries, and celebrity participant. The Parade is a major national event which seeks to draw the notice of Americans to the real meaning for the holiday. It is a patriotic, flag-waving, red white and blue festivity of America's birthday!

The Parade is co-hosted by the National Park Service and shaped by Diversified Events, which is under contract to the National Park Service.

Participating bands are invited based on recommendation from each state's Governor's office. Other times these recommendations come from a state's music educator’s office or other music education organizations at the governor's ask for.

Representation from all parts of the United States is the objective of the Parade National Selection Committee. Bands must present a video recording, photos, and biographical information detailing experience, honor, past adjudication results, festival ratings, etc. The limit for band applications is January 15th of the year of the parade the band is applies to participate in, and bands are notified of their acceptance no later than February 15th of the same year. Marching bands are chosen on the basis of overall quality, as well as geographical, ethnic and stylistic variety. It is the annual goal of the parade organizers to have at least one band or unit stand for each of the 50 states of the union.

The Nation's Capital offers unlimited enthusiasm on July 4th in addition to the parade. A National Folk life Festival on the Mall features dissimilar cultures in the Americas and a variety of ethnic groups. That evening, parade participants are all part of the spectators of the PBS Concert at the Capitol Building feature the National Symphony Orchestra and one of the country's largest fireworks displays. There is no greater location displaying greater enthusiasm on America's birthday than in our nation's capital.