Lots of activities honoring Independence Day

Charles Oliver, The Daily Citizen, Dalton, Ga.
·2 min read

Jun. 23—A long and busy Independence Day weekend starts on Friday, July 1, in Dalton and Eton.

In Dalton, the Off the Rails Summer Entertainment Series hosts Pops in Burr Park at the Burr Performing Arts Park in downtown Dalton. The Creative Arts Guild Chamber Orchestra performs patriotic music and traditional favorites in honor of the Fourth of July.

The music and festivities will kick off with a performance by AmeriCalypso at 6:30 p.m., followed by familiar tunes performed by local band Mountain Rattle at 7:30, with the Pops performance beginning at 8:30. The finale will be a fireworks display.

In Eton, festivities start at 5 p.m. at Eton Park. There will be food and games and music by D.J. Newton. Fireworks will start after dark. The event is free.

Local celebrations continue Saturday, July 2, in Cohutta and Chatsworth.

Cohutta's celebration of the Fourth of July starts at 5 p.m. at Shugart Park. The evening will feature antique cars and tractors, food vendors, craft vendors and face painting. The band Blind Skeleton will perform, and after sundown there will be a fireworks show. The event is free.

The city of Chatsworth's Fourth of July fireworks display begins after dark on Saturday, July 2, at the Murray County Recreation Department. There will be live music, food vendors and other attractions before the fireworks. The event is free.

Varnell and the Highland Forest Community will co-host fireworks for residents on Sunday, July 3. The show will be held at the Highland Forest pool area starting around 9:30 p.m.

Local celebrations will conclude Monday, July 4, in Dalton.

The Dalton Parks and Recreation Department is planning a full day of fun at Heritage Point Park. The day kicks off at 10 a.m. when the old-timers softball game starts. The Firecracker Adult Softball Tournament starts at 11 a.m. Registration is $150 per team. Participants can register their teams at mydprd.com or by calling (706) 847-0943.

In the afternoon, there will be a cornhole tournament. There will also be Little Miss Rec (ages 2 to 5) and Junior Miss Rec (ages 6 to 12) pageants.

The popular Krystal eating (ages 16 and up), doughnut hole eating (12 and under) and doughnut eating (13 and up) contests will also be held at Heritage Point Park, as will a frog race. Contestants must bring their own frogs.

Registration for all those contests starts at 1:45 p.m. in the Rotary Pavilion. The cornhole tournament starts at 2. The frog race starts at 3. The Little Miss Rec contest starts at 3:45, and the Junior Miss Rec contest starts at 4:20. The eating contests start at 5.

There will be professional wrestling at 6 p.m.

There will be inflatables for children and food vendors.

The fireworks show will start after dark and will last about 20 minutes. The event is free.