SEQUIM — The Sequim City Band will open a day full of music and fireworks with the group’s annual Independence Day concert, “A Patriotic 4th of July.”
The performance, a tradition since 1992, will be at 3 p.m. Thursday at bandshell at the James Center for Performing Arts at Carrie Blake Community Park, 506 N. Blake Ave.
Following the presentation and posting of colors by the Civil Air Patrol Dungeness Unit’s Cadet Color Guard, the band will fill the concert with a couple of well-known John Philip Sousa marches, a medley of popular Glenn Miller tunes, and music from the movies “The Magnificent Seven” (composer Elmer Bernstein) and “The Patriot” (composer John Williams).
A melodious arrangement of “America, the Beautiful” by Carmen Dragon and “Inchon” by Robert W. Smith, a piece written to acknowledge the Korean people and U.S. military service personnel who served during the Korean Conflict, will be among the musical offerings.
Past and current service members will be honored musically with “Armed Forces Salute” — a compilation of service songs.
At the end of the concert, as an exclamation point to the day’s festivities, a flyover by the U.S. Coast Guard Air Rescue helicopter from Air Station Port Angeles is scheduled, provided the crew is not called to provide its regular duty.
Attendees are encouraged to bring a lawn chair or blanket and find a spot on the lawn in front of the James Center stage. Children and dogs can enjoy the grassy expanse, and after some fun in the sun, all can settle in to enjoy the afternoon concert and evening entertainments from the open-air performance stage.
On-site parking and concert are free.
Concert-goers also are invited to stay throughout the remainder of the day as the city of Sequim sponsors more live entertainment — SuperNostaligic at 5 p.m and Black Diamond Junction at 7 p.m. — and capped by a sundown fireworks display at about 10 p.m. at the nearby Albert Haller Playfields, just across from the lawn seating at the James Center.
For more information about the Sequim City Band, visit sequimcityband.org. For more information about Sequim-sponsored entertainment, visit sequimwa.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=1419.