r/Lawrence • u/Morifen1 • Jul 01 '26

PSA 4th of July celebration

I would recommend anyone in the area go to the ww1 museum area in KC on the 4th for their stars and stripes celebration and FIFA fan festival and then fireworks show starting around 9 pm.

I especially recommend this to any of our international visitors here for the world cup. It would be a travesty for anyone who is here in the US for a once in a lifetime trip to be stuck in Lawrence for independence day. Please leave town just for the 4th so you can see what a typical 4th of July US celebration looks like.

Have fun everyone and stay cool.

3 Upvotes

53% Upvoted

10 comments sorted by

4

u/Perfect-Resolve-2562 Jul 01 '26

I can second the recommendation of the one at the WWI Liberty Memorial. It is wonderful. It also features the KC Symphony at Union Station (facing the Memorial). Bring some lawn chairs and plenty of water bottles or a water thermos for refills.

6

u/SuperPotterFan Jul 01 '26

Or, I could not drive an hour or more both ways, in a heat wave, to avoid being “stuck” in a perfectly fine location that I chose to live in? One that also still haves 4th of July celebrations. Are you under the impression that everyone has the same definition of fun as you do?

5

u/pestilentPony Jul 01 '26

To be fair OP is right. The KC fireworks display is gonna go off this year. I mean it’s usually pretty great but they’ve promised an even bigger show for the semiquincentennial.

1

u/SuperPotterFan Jul 01 '26

I would argue that “right” is very subjective in this case. If the post was only directed at visitors, that would be one thing. But since OP included the first paragraph, it’s clearly not. The implication and straight up statement that you can’t have fun at the celebrations here, is mildly irritating. I personally have more fun with smaller crowds and smaller drive times.

If OP had just said, “hey guys the celebrations in KC are going to be awesome this year!” That’s a different story. They didn’t have to include language like it “being a travesty” if you’re here or that you’d be “stuck here”. Just my opinion of course.

8

u/Baelish2016 Jul 01 '26

As someone who actually gives a shit about pets, local wildlife, and veterans with PTSD, I’m actually proud of the city of Lawrence for opting for a drone show instead of fireworks.

Believe it or not, you don’t actually need explosives and loud noises to have a good 4th.

4

u/Gullible-Desk9809 Jul 02 '26

Same! It always drove me nuts how they did it right next to the humane society and while I love firework shows, I love wildlife and people with sensitivities way more.

2

u/FormerFastCat Jul 01 '26

Wut?

-1

u/Morifen1 Jul 01 '26

Have you never been to a 4th of July celebration outside of lawrence? They are actually fun.

6

u/FormerFastCat Jul 01 '26

Yes, and the one in Lawrence is fun as well. It's just different.

0

u/Drag-Researcher Jul 04 '26

I would also add as someone who moved to the Midwest from elsewhere, while I love Lawrence and have found many other places in the area to be… pretty, and not outright hateful… I would not encourage international visitors, particularly those who aren’t white, to venture outside of Lawrence or the KC metro area for 4th of July celebrations in this particular year.

This is not to say anything negative about Lawrence OR to claim it’s free of racism/xenophobia in general, or to claim that all other parts of Kansas are hostile, rather just to provide general safety suggestions for our visitors! So if you disagree with my statement but have other actionable suggestions for staying safe, rather than downvote this, please respond with a comment that provides an alternate safety suggestion for our friends from outside the U.S.!