Arthur's Freedom Celebration and Fireworks
            June 25th, 2022

 

The birthday celebration for the United States takes on special meaning around Arthur.
Arthur always celebrates on the SATURDAY THE WEEKEND BEFORE JULY 4TH

On the Saturday closest before the 4th, crowds estimated at over 30,000 people flock to Arthur for the Freedom Celebration.

Beginning on Saturday morning and continuing on Saturday right up to minutes before the fireworks, there will be craft shows, parades food vendors, helicopter rides and much more to do in Arthur.

Saturday morning begins with a special craft show downtown, followed by a big parade downtown in the afternoon.  Come downtown early and spend the day in Downtown Arthur. Shopping, food and craft vendors, and special sales downtown,  You will have plenty of time to enjoy the downtown festivities before heading back to Jurgens park (about 4 blocks south) for the evening's activities.

Head to the fairgrounds on the south edge of Arthur after 5pm to gain a good vantage point to enjoy the activities. Food stands open, a baseball tournament, an air show, skydivers, and one recent year, a "F-115 ! stealth fighter" fly over brought the crowd to it's feet. The Air Show will precede the fireworks and usually features a WW II T-6 aircraft and Skydivers from Mid-America Sport Parachute Club from Taylorville, Illinois with the final skydiver bringing in the American Flag. Back this year is Central Illinois Air from Mattoon offering the ever popular Helicopter rides on site beginning at approximately 4:00pm with a cost of $ 20.00 per person.

But these are just a prelude to one of the biggest fireworks displays in central Illinois. Beginning at approximately 9:30pm, a continuous, 24 minute barrage of thousands of aerial displays including some of the biggest shells available in the country fill the night sky, all timed to music simulcast on 106.7 FM/The Fox.

 

 Other crowd favorites include the 500 foot long "Wall of Fire"and the 500 foot long "Niagra Falls" display. And when the "Rural Patriot" makes his ride across 500 feet or more of flowing ground displays, people cheer.

The Arthur Fireworks display is the Biggest Fireworks display in Central Illinois and is proudly presented by the Arthur Rotary Club, The Village of Arthur, the Arthur Park Board and many area sponsors including CHI overhead Doors, CBM Platics and Tri County Welding. The value of the Fireworks activities in Arthur is  conservatively estimated in excess of $55,000.  

 

View an informative video on Arthur's Famous
ULTIMATE FIREBALL, one of the many pyrotechnic highlights that you can only see  at
the Arthur Freedom Celebration Fireworks.

 

 

 

Every Freedom celebration needs a parade and we have one! Arthur's Freedom Parade THRU THE DOWNTOWN IN THE AFTERNOON.
We'd love to have participate in our parade so print out our Parade Registration Form here.

 

We get quite a crowd for this event, often in excess of 25,000 people, so you might want to arrive early and plan ahead for parking and viewing locations. Beginning at 5pm there will be plenty of food vendors and other activities to keep you entertained at the fairgrounds. Even if this map is dated, the location does not change from year to year.                Fireworks Event Maps page.   

While the fireworks and displays are free if you walk in, we hope you if you enjoyed the show you can make a donation as you  leave to help fund future displays and to support the Arthur Rotary Club projects. 

 

In addition, please note that many parking areas do have a specific charge to park.
Check the Maps Page

 

REMEMBER THE SATURDAY BEFORE THE 4TH... IN ARTHUR

As with the other special events in the Arthur Area- check our online calendar for the most up-to-date information available!