City of Alachua invites everyone to its Independence Day celebration
Press release from the City of Alachua
ALACHUA, Fla. – The City of Alachua invites its citizens and those who neighbor Alachua, Florida, to join in the celebration of Independence Day at the “Largest Small-Town Fireworks Display in America.” The City’s annual Fourth of July Celebration will be held on Friday, July 4, 2025, from 5:00 p.m. until 10:00 p.m., at Legacy Park (15400 Peggy Rd., Alachua, Florida 32615).
The celebration has a fantastic lineup of entertainment and food. The gates at Legacy Park will open at 5:00 p.m., and live music from Crooked Counsel, ranging from a variety of hit songs from the 60s to today, will commence at 6:00 p.m. And most importantly, the “Largest Small- Town Fireworks Display in America” celebration will start promptly at 9:30 p.m.
Parking for this event is FREE. The City of Alachua does want to remind patrons that personal fireworks are prohibited; pets, glass containers, and smoking (e.g., cigarettes, vapes, etc.) are not permitted as well.
I believe city manager Mike DaRoza. He claims the city does not have the money to live stream city commission meetings. But the city has $50,000 to blow on fireworks. Party time is more important than government transparency. Rehire most excellent city manager DaRoza and give him a big raise.
Everybody loves the July 4th Celebration but have you been to downtown Alachua lately? Does it look dead…dead…dead? Did you know the Gym, Cardinal’s Nest, Mother Lode have all closed?
A. Impossible. Downtown died in 1978 after the Copeland plant closed and no locals had any money. In 1984 Alachua created a Community Redevelompent Area (CRA) citing a need to reduce the “blight” of the area. They get extra tax money to spend on the area. In 40 years they have spent MILLIONS to reduce the “blight” in downtown. If they did their job, there is no more blight and downtown is thriving, so you must be wrong.
B. Or else downtown has been permanently dead for 45 years and will never recover and all the CRA money has been a total waste. City hall wastes huge staff time on the foolish delusional idea that downtown can ever be restored to its glory days of 1965. The “Get Drunk with Mayor Mustachio Thursday Street Parties while Roasting on Hot Pavement” were a colossal failure.
I vote for B.
Seems like the fireworks started a few months early in Alachua this year…
These fireworks confuse me. One year recently the city announced that half the audience were from out of town. Alachua HATES out of towners. Always have. Why do they spend so much money to entertain them?