MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The City of Morgantown is ready to welcome area residents to come celebrate Independence Day.

A day of family-friendly activities, live music, and 4th of July fireworks will kick off at 5 p.m. Thursday at the Hazel Ruby McQuain Park Amphitheater. City of Morgantown Arts and Culture Director Vincent Kitch encourages residents to come down to the free event that will also include local food vendors and performances from local aerial performers.

“We are home for the big, official 4th of July celebration, we’re going to have music from 7 to 10 p.m., and we’re going to have all of the food vendors there,” said Kitch.

Live music will begin at 7 p.m. with popular cover band Jukebox, who will perform at the Hazel Ruby McQuain Park Amphitheater stage. They will be followed by local performers Brittany Mann and Marisa Jagelo, who will create unique aerial acts to set up the fireworks that are scheduled to take place around 9:45 to 10:00 p.m. Kitch adds that Jukebox returned to perform in Morgantown after positive feedback from attendees last year.

“From 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. (we’ll have music) with Jukebox out of Pittsburgh, those guys rock everything from the 80s to the 2020s probably,” said Kitch.

Kid-friendly activities and food vendors will be open at the same time the area around the Hazel Ruby McQuain Park Amphitheater will open. This will include several vendors who have appeared weekly during the Ruby Summer Concert Series as well as new faces such as El Pollon, who opened up their new downtown location in recent months. While the food costs will vary depending on the vendor, most of the kid-friendly activities are expected to be free.

“We’re going to have free face painting, we’re going to have a major inflatable jumping house kind of place for free,” said Kitch. “So it’ll be a great, family-fun event,” he said.

The traditional 4th of July fireworks display will be supplied by Little Big Shots, with fireworks being shot off in clear view of anyone at the Hazel Ruby McQuain Park Amphitheater. The City of Morgantown also advises residents that there is expected to be an influx of traffic downtown Thursday evening, with hundreds expected to be in attendance. Kitch encourages families to come early, enjoy the festivities, and get a good spot to see what he expects to be a fantastic 4th of July fireworks display.

“The park opens at 5 p.m., the music is at 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., and then we’re going to have a big fireworks show right at about 10 o’clock from Little Big Shots, like we have done for the past three or four years,” Kitch said.

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