From parades to music to fireworks, Topekans can celebrate the Fourth of July in plenty of ways

Independence Day events will kick off this year with several parades, and culminate with fireworks in and around Topeka this year.

Topeka's biggest fireworks display, with music simulcast on Majic 107.7, will top off the Spirit of Kansas Blues Festival at 10 p.m. Monday at Lake Shawnee, 3137 S.E. 29th St.

Sparks will fly way before then, with such elements as music, food and fun starting at 9 a.m.

And don't forget about the parades.

Three neighborhood parades start off the day with a show of pride

• The College Hill Parade will gather at 9:30 a.m. Monday at Boswell Square Park, 1300 S.W. Jewell Ave. The parade begins at 10 a.m. A hot dog lunch will be provided by Westminster Presbyterian Church after the parade. The neighborhood is also having a 4th of July Home Decorating Contest.

• The Potwin Fourth of July Parade will line up at 9:30 a.m. Monday at S.W. 3rd Street and Greenwood Avenue. The parade begins at 10 a.m.

• The 51st annual Collins Park 4th of July Parade will line up no later than 10:45 a.m. Monday at S.W. 15th Street and Collins Avenue. The parade begins at 11 a.m.

After that thrill-seekers can make their ways to the other events.

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Lake Shawnee has the whole Shebang

The Spirit of Kansas Blues Festival begins at 9 a.m. Monday at Lake Shawnee, 3137 S.E. 29th St.

A car show will be at shelters 4 and 5, west of Reynolds Lodge on Tinman's Circle. Registration, at 8 a.m., is $20. The show begins at 9 a.m. and awards are given at 2:30 p.m.

The Shawnee Boat and Ski Club will have a waterski show from 6:30 to 7:45 p.m. near the cove at the northeast end of the lake (S.W. 29th and Croco Road).

Water skiers will make pyramids and perform water ski jumping. Trick skiing and wakeboard flip skiing will also be featured. The best viewing will be from the north shore of Tinman Circle just east of S.E. East Edge Road.

Food, arts and crafts vendors will be open from 11 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. between the car show and the Blues Festival, at Reynolds Lodge, 3315 S.E. Tinman Circle.

Parking is free.

Sweet, yet melancholy sounds will fill the air, surrounding the other events and setting a distinctly American tone.

More: July Fourth weekend travel: Here are the best and worst times to leave for your road trip

Blues adds just the right touch to an All-American day

The festival has gained quite a following of blues enthusiasts since it first became an integral part of the events, said Suki Blakely, vice president of the Topeka Blues Society.

"You get the same people come every year," she said. "They have their little popup tents, just the top part, ... and they'll have those patio rugs and their chairs and their coolers and they make them look like little rooms."

As to why it is such a popular genre of music Blakely said it permeates American culture.

"Blues is in everything," she said. "It's just a genre that it goes into everything. Everybody goes back to that, even the Rolling Stones."

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The talent schedule

• 11 a.m. — Spirit Dancer, Dennis Rogers, a member of the Navajo Nation will open the event.

• 11:30 a.m. — The Vietnam Veterans of America chapter 604 will provide the Color Guard, and Janelle Cruz will sing the National Anthem.

• Noon — Howard Mahan, a guitarist, singer and songwriter originally from Fredonia, will perform a rock blues sound along with his band.

• 1:15 p.m. — Stone Cutters Union, a Kansas City group which made it to the semifinals in the International Blues Challenge, will also bring a bluesy rock style to the stage.

• 2:30 p.m. — The Nace Brothers will provide a mixture of blues, rock, funk and zydeco, a style developed by French Creole and Native American musicians in Louisiana.

• 4 p.m. — The Keeshea Pratt Band, featuring the music of old-school Motown led by internationally award winning vocalist Pratt, features a seven-piece band with horns and plays a wide variety of genres.

• 5:45 p.m. — Johnny Rawls, Pratt's uncle and world-renowned artist who has won the Blues Music Award's soul album of the year and soul artist of the year, is bound to be a crowd pleaser.

• 7:15 p.m. – Jose Ramirez, the second runner-up two years ago in the International Blues Challenge, will bring a Latino flair to the music he provides.

• 9 p.m. — Mark & The Sharks will wrap things up with classic rock and roll to excite the crowd in anticipation of the fireworks show to follow.

Some other nearby celebrations

• The Overbrook 4th of July Celebration will start with a Kids Bike parade at 11:30 a.m. Monday at the old middle school parking lot (below the water tower by the ball diamonds).It will be free to swim from 1 to 5 p.m. at the Overbrook swimming pool, 701 Maple St, Overbrook. At 6 p.m. at the Overbrook City Lake, 501 E. 8th St., Overbrook will feature a free inflatable water slide for kids, a beer garden, several food trucks, free watermelon and water bottles. A fireworks display will end the celebration at 10 p.m.

• Pomona Lake Marina has plans for a Boat Parade at 4:45 p.m. Saturday starting at the marina cove, 4009 Marina Road, Vassar. The theme will be "America The Great." Food trucks will be serving food. Lamont Hill Fireworks show starts at dark.

Catheryn Hrenchir is a feature writer for The Topeka-Capital Journal. She can be reached at chrenchir.gannett.com or (785) 817-6383.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Topeka's Fourth of July festivities include Blues festival, fireworks