Petal officials are partnering with Hattiesburg to bring an all-American 4th of July celebration to the banks of the Leaf River.
The inaugural Coca-Cola Star-Spangled Celebration on the River – which is hosted by the Petal Chamber of Commerce, Historic Hattiesburg Downtown Association and Forrest County Board of Supervisors – will be held from 5 -10 p.m. July 3, with fireworks scheduled for 9 p.m. Petal will hold its celebration at Petal River Park, while Hattiesburg’s will be on the opposite side of the river at Chain Park.
“We wanted to do something that would be mutually beneficial for both our communities – for Hattiesburg and Petal, and for our associations,” said Valerie Wilson, executive director of the Petal Chamber of Commerce. “But mainly, we just wanted to have a very first-class, family-friendly event that would draw visitors to our area.
“We hope that this will be an economic development measure that people will come into both of our towns from miles away and enjoy it. And we want to bring attention to both of our parks … which are fabulous facilities, but generally not many people know about them.”
In addition to the free fireworks show, both sides of the river will feature music, food and drink vendors, and inflatable jumps for the kids. Concessions include funnel cakes, rib-eye steak sandwiches, snow cones, pizza and nachos, as well as offerings from Chik-fil-A.
The music lineup on the Petal River Park side will consist of four acts: Charles “CC” Carter, Mississippi Moonlight, Wes Lee and The Lanna Wakeland Band. The lineup for the Hattiesburg side is still being worked out, but will be released in the near future.
Hub City Transit will provide shuttles to both parks from designated parking areas.
Because of a Petal ordinance that prohibits alcohol on city-owned property, alcohol will be sold and allowed only on the Chain Park side of the celebration.
“If you want to make sure your kids and your family are not around alcohol, and nobody’s going to be drinking around them, then the Petal side’s where to go,” Wilson said. “For those people that want to drink beer, they can go to the Hattiesburg side and not have to drag coolers around and things like that.”
Attendees are encouraged to bring lawn chairs and blankets, but tents, personal fireworks, pets and glass are not allowed.
Petal and Hattiesburg organizers are still looking for food vendors for both sides of the celebration, with vendor fees of $150 for a 10-by-10 booth with electric or $100 for a 10-by-10 booth without electric. Vendor applications can be found on the Star-Spangled Celebration on the River Facebook page.
“I’ve got a handful of (vendors) so far,” HHDA executive director Andrea Saffle said. “We looked at the crowds at the Live at 5 this spring as a gauge to try to estimate how many food vendors we will need.”
The event is co-sponsored by The First Bank.
“It’s really going to be a big event – the first of its kind,” Wilson said.
