Picnic blankets will unfurl, small barbecues will be fired up, faces will be painted and summer tunes will play all to mark Renton’s Fabulous Fourth of July Celebration at Gene Coulon Park on Monday.
Some 20,000 attendees are expected at the park, which features events all day long.
Pleasant weather is forecast, for a change; last year rain kept holiday-goers away from the park.
Independence Day is expected to be mostly sunny with a high near 73 degrees, according to the National Weather Service. By the time the sky lights up with fireworks off the shores of Coulon Beach Park at 10 p.m., partly cloudy skies are expected with an overnight low around 57 degrees.
There will be things to do, see, hear and eat at the park. Coal Creek Family YMCA and Matt Griffin YMCA are sponsoring a free KidZone with inflatables and face-painting. The Sanctuary and The Reserve Apartments will host the stage entertainment.
Acts for the event include the Renton City Concert Band, comedy and stunts from Matt Baker, reggae and funk from Spirit of Ojah, country hits from the Camano Cadillac Band, and rhythm and blues dance hits from Oncore.
The Beachside Concession Stand, Ivar’s and Kidd Valley are the food outlets.
The fireworks will last approximately 20 minutes and will be launched from a barge in Lake Washington. They will shoot about 500 feet into the air and be visible from West Hill, Mercer Island, Newcastle and Renton’s Kennydale and Highlands neighborhoods.
While the bigger Seattle Lake Union fireworks display costs organizers more than $100,000 for their fireworks alone, it cost the City of Renton under $20,000 for the display, said Sonja Mejlaender, event organizer.
The price of the overall event in Renton is offset by sponsors, which provide 70 percent of the costs, she said.
Sponsors cover the hard costs of the event such as the fireworks, stage entertainment and free activities for kids.
This is title sponsor The Landing’s third year sponsoring the event as well as the Sanctuary and Reserve Apartments. This is the YMCA’s first year as a sponsor.
Last year it cost the city $34,000 to put on the event. Mejlaender said this figure represents the value associated with staff time and benefits planning the event and event day resources.
The city wouldn’t be saving $34,000 if the event didn’t happen because a lot of those staff and resources would still be in operation that day, she said.
“The Fourth is Renton’s largest one-day event,” Mejlaender said.
FABULOUS FOURTH
Gene Coulon Memorial Beach Park, 1201 Lake Washington Blvd. N.
SCHEDULE
7 a.m. Park on Lake Washington
Noon – 8 p.m., Free KidZone Activities
1:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m., Stage entertainment
10 p.m. Fireworks off the shores of Coulon Beach Park
MORE INFO ONLINE
