NORTHAMPTON — The 13th annual Northampton Family Fourth Celebration returns on Saturday, June 21, starting at 5 p.m. and is set for another family fun filled evening at Look Memorial Park watching the night sky fill with bright color.
Coordinated and run by the volunteer committee, in partnership with the city of Northampton and Look Memorial Park, the annual event attracts thousands to enjoy the Parks & Recreation Department bounce houses, carnival games and prizes, as well as games and wellness activities provided by other nonprofits.
“For this year, we are extremely excited to have everything happening,” said Brenda Ryan, chair of the Family Fourth committee. “We’re hoping for a beautiful night. The committee has been amazing. I love working with it, it’s been one of my favorite committees to be on. We’ve just really grown to work as such an amazing team.”
There will be a variety of food vendors available to purchase from, as well as other local vendor set ups made up of community organizations and live music from a local band culminating with the Florence Community Band playing patriotic tunes at dusk in lead to the firework show.
The event is free and Regular Look Park vehicle entry fees apply until 5 p.m., and donations for the fireworks are welcomed and needed. For more information on this year’s event, visit northamptonfamilyfourth.com. A rain date is set for the following day, Sunday, June 22.
Ryan said it was a challenge putting together the funding for this year’s fireworks celebration in what has become a trend for the committee post COVID-19.
“We took a bit of a hit during COVID time with all the challenges and things and since COVID, it has been really difficult to maintain all the services that we need and all the things that we need due to the rising costs of everything from the fireworks to all the things that we need,” said Ryan.
Back in March, Ryan connected with Reminder Publishing and said at that time, the committee was facing a funding gap of approximately $25,000 to reach the funds needed for the fireworks display and event. The fundraising goal was $30,000 in total and according to Ryan, inflation was the main reason for the exacerbated funding concerns.
While the 2025 iteration of the event is now a full go, these same funding challenges figure to linger into planning for next year’s event.
“We’re really concerned. We’ve had to raise a lot of money this year and we have really brought our cash flow down to very little. We’re looking for sponsors and everything else. If people want to see this continue into the future, we definitely need to start to gather some more funds to do that for next year,” Ryan explained.
She continued, “As far as next year goes, we’re going to really revamp and take a look at that after this event is over to see where we’re at and we’ll have to see what money is still available for us to be able to do this. So that is still pending to see if we’re going to be able to make this happen for next year. It’s an incredible amount of money we’re going to have to raise, so we really have to put our heads together and see what the team is ready to do.”
Ryan said with her passion for the event, as well as the passion of other volunteers and residents who have made the annual event a part of their lives, she is trying to stay optimistic that they will find a funding solution to keep the annual event afloat.
“I love the event, and we love to see the community come. All ages come, people can picnic in the park in the afternoon, enjoy the water spray park and everything else, and then stay for the evening event. It really can be a full day of a family affair,” said Ryan. “It’s a celebration of everything and we really have enjoyed doing this for all the years and we really want to see it continue.”
She added, “No matter how much work you put into it, we volunteer and love this stuff. At the end of the night when you get to see those fireworks and you get to hear the families and see the smiles, the oohs and the ahs … When people leave, they leave with such a great feeling. You can hear it in their voice. It really allows people to have happiness in their life and fun. And when you see people there you don’t see them worried about things, you see them just enjoying a real fun experience.”
