The Muscatine Fourth of July Celebration, sponsored by the Greater Muscatine Chamber of Commerce & Industry (GMCCI), the City of Muscatine, and Keep Muscatine Beautiful, will go on despite the rising Mississippi River and the potential for flooding. But there have been some important changes to this year’s location of events.
The community parade has been moved out of Downtown Muscatine and will now take place through Kent Stein Park entering from Houser Street and continuing on Oneida Street to Division Street. There will be no parking on Oneida Street from 3-5 p.m. Thursday. There will be several options to park at Kent Stein Park to watch the parade, but you should arrive before 3:45 p.m. as you will not be able to exit while the parade is in motion. Additional parking will be available at the main Soccer Complex with golf carts available to help transport people.
Staging for the parade will begin at 2:00 p.m. in the Soccer West parking lot. Houser Street will be closed to thru traffic at 2 p.m. from Hershey to Musser. Residents, American Legion customers, and those staying for the parade will still have access until 4 p.m. when the parade begins. Houser will reopen to traffic once all the parade entrants have entered Kent Stein Park.
Spectators are reminded to stay safely back from the parade entrants, and parents are urged to keep watch on their children as the entrants pass by.
The Mississippi River is expected to be at 19.6 feet (in moderate flood stage) on July 4 and the City of Muscatine will close Riverside Park to vehicle and pedestrian traffic. The rising Mississippi will not prevent the Fourth of July celebration in Downtown Muscatine, just move them to a higher location.
Mississippi Drive will be closed to all traffic from Chestnut Street to Cedar Street with Iowa Avenue and Sycamore Street closed just south of the #1 alley for the public to enjoy the festivities and fireworks show. The street closure will begin at 8 a.m. Thursday and continue through 12 p.m. on Friday.
Eastbound traffic will be detoured from Grandview Avenue to Main Street, to West 8th Street, and to Cedar Street before returning to Mississippi Drive. Westbound traffic will be the reverse … detoured at Cedar to West 8th, to Main Street, and then to Grandview Avenue.
Plenty of free parking is available throughout the Downtown Muscatine area and just a short walk from the festival location.
The celebration will begin, weather permitting, with Almost Fireworks Fest (AFF) taking place from 4:30-8 p.m. on Mississippi Drive and Iowa Avenue. The AFF stage will be placed at the intersection of Iowa Avenue and Mississippi Drive.
Military guests of honor will be recognized at 8 p.m. including this year’s parade marshal, Rear Admiral Pamela Miller, the Medical Officer of the United States Marine Corps and Vice Chief, Bureau of Medicine Reserve Policy and Integration. There will also be a special Purple Heart Award Ceremony for SSG Keith Ormsby, U.S. Army, who was wounded in combat during the Vietnam War. The military recognition will also include a chinook helicopter flyover by the Army National Guard.
Festivities leading up to the fireworks display will continue at the Musser Public Library where the Muscatine Symphony Orchestra and the Color Guard will be located in the Library parking lot.
Fireworks over the Mississippi River will take place as planned beginning at dusk. Spectators are encouraged to bring their lawn chairs and enjoy the view from Mississippi Drive.
Musser Public Library’s Children’s Parade will take place as planned on 2nd Street at 9:00 a.m.
Detailed maps will be available on https://muscatine.com/events/muscatines-4th-of-july-celebration/.