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Plan your Fourth 🎆
Your guide to parades, fireworks, and America's 250th
It's America's 250th birthday, and this year the Fourth lands on Saturday. Add Summerfest's final weekend and the new lakefront drone show, and it's a packed Independence Day calendar. Here's how to plan for your family.
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Your North Shore Fourth of July
The North Shore runs its hometown traditions all day Saturday, July 4. Glendale hosts the area's biggest free celebration at Kletzsch Park — a parade, food trucks, live music, kids' activities, and fireworks around 9 p.m. Shorewood caps the night with fireworks over Lake Michigan at Atwater Park, while Fox Point and Bayside both run morning parades.
The Whitefish Bay parade steps off at 11:30 a.m. at Silver Spring Drive and Kent Avenue, heading east down Silver Spring and north on Lake Drive to Klode Park. New this year: a kids' Bike Brigade rolls the route behind the Badger Band, with a $500 Wheel & Sprocket gift certificate for the most creative ride. The party continues at Klode Park with food and drinks, kids' games, and live music all day, before the fireworks light up Lake Michigan. Full details and the village guidelines are in our Whitefish Bay Fourth of July guide.
Our North Shore Fourth of July guide has the full village-by-village schedule, and our complete Milwaukee-area guide maps all six counties.
Milwaukee Area Celebrations + Lakefront Drone Show
Milwaukee County's signature July 3 lakefront tradition returns in its new form: a roughly 45-minute drone show over the lakefront at McKinley Beach and McKinley Park, produced with Northern Lights Drone Show. This year debuts pyrotechnic drone technology that blends synchronized light formations with controlled spark effects.
Here’s our Fourth of July guide to the lakefront drone show and celebrations all across the Milwaukee area.
Summerfest's Final Weekend
Summerfest runs its third and final weekend July 2–4, right through the holiday — and it's the cheapest stretch to go. Friday, July 3 is Fan Appreciation Day (everyone free from noon to 3 p.m., with the first 30,000 getting a free 2027 ticket), and Saturday, July 4 brings the Freedom on the Fourth food drive (the first 5,000 fans who donate three nonperishable items between noon and 3 p.m. get in free) plus a fireworks finale to close the night. Our guide to getting into Summerfest free has every promotion.
For every parade, fireworks show, and festival across all six counties, see our complete Fourth of July in Milwaukee guide.
Summer Dance Camps!
Keep your kids active and engaged. Sign up for summer dance camps at Fresh Coast Dance!
See you out there,
North Shore Family Adventures
P.S. Forward this to anyone still asking, “What should we do for the Fourth???”
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