Canton Fourth of July celebration to feature Bluecoats, fireworks

CANTON – The city's annual Independence Day fireworks will be Monday at the Wm. McKinley Presidential Library & Museum.

The pyrotechnics are scheduled to begin about 9:50 p.m. after entertainment from EN-RICH-MENT, the Bluecoats Drum & Bugle Corps, and the Bluecoats Alumni Corps. The grounds will open at 7 p.m., according to a city news release.

"I look forward to the community coming together and celebrating our independence with the traditional Monumental Fourth fireworks display at the beautiful William McKinley Presidential Library & Museum," Mayor Tom Bernabei said in a prepared statement. "I am excited for this year’s entertainment with the award-winning Bluecoats Drum & Bugle Corps and Alumni band. It is going to be spectacular.”

Local brothers Patrick and Bob Harper have organized the event for the past several years in partnership with the city.

Patrick Harper said the Bluecoats, which was founded 50 years ago, is the biggest draw this year. The drum and bugle corps has performed at the Monumental Fourth before but not jointly with the alumni corps.

"It will be the first time that the two corps have played together," he said. "We're pretty excited about it."

Street parking will be available in the surrounding neighborhoods or at Trinity Gospel Temple on Tuscarawas Street W. People with handicap placards will be allowed access to on-site parking lots, Harper said.

The crowd typically reaches 10,000 to 12,000 people on the monument grounds. Food vendors also will be at the event, which is coordinated by volunteers.

"We've been doing this so long, it's kind of like there's a lot of people that just take care of one aspect of it," Harper said.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Canton fireworks set at McKinley Monument