By Sara Beth Williams–
The annual Stars and Stripes Independence Day celebration is returning for a third year to Van Maren Park on Saturday, June 28.
The celebration will begin at 6 p.m. at Van Maren Park and will run until 10 p.m., with fireworks beginning at dusk. The event will feature live music, a variety of food trucks, and a Kids Zone with hands-on activities for kids, hosted by Sunrise Recreation and Park District and Citrus Heights Police Activities League.
Limited ADA parking will be available at City Hall and designated parking lots, with shuttling golf cart services to and from the event site, the city’s website said. Event staff will be monitoring the entrance of the City Hall parking to ensure disabled person parking placards are visible.
Parking has typically been available at the Citrus Heights Police Department off Fountain Square Drive and at the Citrus Heights Community Center and Dignity Health, both located at the corner of Greenback Lane and Fountain Square Drive.
Attendees are encouraged to ride their bikes or carpool to the event for traffic reduction and parking convenience.
An estimated 7,000 attendees filled the park last year, according to city officials, which is nearly double the estimated attendance in 2023. The celebration featured music from Pop Fiction and an active Kids Zone, which took over the park’s basketball court.
“I was incredibly proud to see the event come together and see our residents and their families enjoying an evening of family fun, celebrating our country,” then-Mayor Bret Daniels said in a statement to the press. He called the event a “great success” and praised the city and Police Department for providing a safe, inviting, and fun atmosphere.
Van Maren Park is located at 6601 Thalia Way, and residents can also access the park on foot via walking paths through the Stock Ranch Nature Preserve located behind Walmart and Costco.
In January 2023, the City Council voted 3-to-2 to approve the use of up to $80,000 in American Rescue Plan Act pandemic relief funds to be spent on the inaugural Stars and Stripes event.
Prior fireworks shows had been held at Sunrise Mall but were privately funded and discontinued in 2012.
