Happy Independence Day! Here are all the festivities throughout the Triangle for the holiday weekend. Have a great time!

To keep this newsletter manageable, we are going to concentrate on Independence Day. If you are looking for other activities, or just a great park for whatever you feel like doing, go to www.Parkgeek.com click on "Event Search" and fill in the dates. Select the search button and start planning! See below for more...

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Just about every city and town in the Triangle is hosting something fun for the Independence Day Holiday. Whether you are looking for breakfast and a kids parade or fireworks and live concerts, ParkGeek has it all for you!

Apex starts the holiday early on July 2nd with an Independence Weekend Kickoff Concert by the Triangle Brass Band. Many events take place on July 3rd this year. The Town of Garner's Independence Day Celebration festivities start Saturday with kids inflatables and the sounds of Liquid Pleasure and end with the North Carolina Symphony and a Fireworks Display.

The Town of Fuquay-Varina will host the annual Independence Day Celebration on the third, also. There will be fun for the whole family with fireworks, live music, food, and free carnival rides to enjoy.

If you are an early riser, you can head over to Morrisville to enjoy a July 4th Pancake Breakfast and live entertainment on the 3rd. Tickets should be purchased in advance so click through for the information.

4th of July Celebration in Wake Forest will also start the weekend off with a bang. Saturday night at Heritage High School, there will be a concert by The Band of Oz, games, live entertainment and fireworks. The gates open at 5:30 pm and admission is $5 per person (kids under six are free).

Join Durham Central Park on Saturday morning for some old-fashioned, patriotic fun at their Children's Independence Day Parade and Family Fun Event. Patriotic Music, Helium Balloons, a Fire Engine from Station No. 1, and even a Police Escort for the Parade. The Scrap Exchange will provide decorations for bicycles, wagons and scooters.

Apex honors an Olde Fashion 4th of July on Saturday with Uncle Sam's Parade of Wheels and an afternoon of fun with food, clowns, jugglers, games like mini golf, scramble slide, Kiddie Hi-Striker, face painting, water balloons, side walk chalk, costume contest, musical entertainment, and karaoke by Skid Rowe. After the parade, enjoy the Apex Fire Department's Splash Down!

For a slightly different twist, come on out to Bond Park to experience the Independence Eve Celebration at Sertoma. Applause! Cary Youth Theatre will present an Independence Eve performance. Following the performance, there will be a concert by the Cary Town Band. Bond Park is also hosting an Olde Time Celebration. The fun begins early with a parent- child fishing tournament and a parade. The day continues with a performance by Applause! Cary Youth Theatre and family contests including donut and watermelon eating concerts, lakeside olympics, balloon volleyball and seed spitting contests.

On Sunday, tons of activities will be available at the State Fair Grounds celebration. With activities both indoors and outside, there will be interactive games, inflatables, live entertainment, music, food vendors, and fireworks.

Celebrating Independence Day provides an opportunity to look back in time. The Independence Day Open House at the Joel Lane House is a great place to reflect on colonial life. On the grounds, re-enactors will demonstrate various aspects of colonial life such as spinning and dyeing. The garden will be on view and herbs from the garden will be for sale. There will be old fashioned crafts and games as well as lemonade for the children. In addition to outdoor activities, the circa 1770 plantation manor house and the 1790 kitchen building will be open.

The State Capitol is another great historical location to celebrate our Independence! Enjoy a family-oriented Independence Day celebration with a patriotic concert and picnic. Musical performances, food and historic demonstrators round out this patriotic day of fun.

The Town of Carrboro will be celebrating on the 4th with loads of live entertainment on two stages, kids inflatables, games, face painting, a toddler square, and a kid's fun zone.

Then there are the evening programs. Kenan Memorial Stadium will host the Chapel Hill July 4th Fireworks Celebration with live music, food, kids activities and fireworks. The Mebane Fourth of July Family Music Festival will feature live music, food vendors and a fireworks display. The Cary Independence Day Concert & Fireworks at Regency Park is another great family event with patriotic music and fireworks. In Durham, you can enjoy a Durham Bulls game with the Independence Day Celebration. Tickets are required for the baseball game, but the gates will be opened for free admission at the end of the 7th inning. In addition to the baseball game and fireworks, there will live music, also.

The fun takes place on Monday in Holly Springs. The Old Fashioned Independence Day Celebration will feature children's entertainment, a Kids Decorated Bike and Wagon Parade, inflatables, festival food, kids crafts, potato sack races, a watermelon seed spitting contest, face painting and musical entertainment. The evening at Womble Park will culminate with fireworks!

Also on Monday, Art-in-the-Park and Games-in-the-Park at Holding Park in Wake Forest will kick off with a Children's Parade and culminate with a bunch of fun games like tug-o-war and water balloon toss and art like face painting and cookie decorating.

Is the heat getting to you? Koko Booth Amphitheater at Regency Park will be showing National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation Thursday night in honor of Christmas in July Night.

The Holly Springs Cultural Center will be showing Finding Nemo for their family movie this Saturday.

First Friday is here again and Downtown Raleigh has some great ways to kick off your holiday weekend. The North Carolina Museum of History will be showing the movie Friends in Liberty: North Carolina in the American Revolution.

Both the Raleigh City Museum and Marbles Kids Museum will be open late for First Friday and feature special activities. Marbles invites you to join them for an Annie Sing-a-long with the North Carolina Theatre Conservatory.

Join Downtown Raleigh for a First Friday Gallery Walk. Head downtown for a fun-filled introduction to Raleigh's exciting art, music and dining scene.