With Independence Day just around the corner, it’s the most patriotic time of the year, and residents and visitors who plan to be in the greater Marshalltown area this week will have multiple opportunities to ring in the Fourth of July in a pair of local communities.

In Marshalltown, the revamped “Red, White and Blue Celebration” is back for its second iteration and will once again be held primarily in the 13th Street District and the 6th Street Softball Complex, beginning with a car cruise-in on 13th Street at 5 p.m. and the first “Live After 5” of the 2025 season at West End Park on Thursday night featuring local artist Buz Owen and b2wins, also known as The Brazilian Twins, who are making a stop here as part of their final run of shows in the state on their “Goodbye Iowa” tour. The concert is free and open to the public, and patrons are advised to bring their own lawn chairs.

The fun will continue into Friday with the Red, White and Blue parade on 13th Street at 10:30 a.m., and it was recently announced that two of the three living WWII veterans who reside at the Iowa Veterans Home — Vaughn Hauser and Ralph Alshouse — will serve as the grand marshals.

“The driving principle for the Red, White, & Blue Celebration is ‘honor veterans.’ Throughout the two-day celebration, we hope that is evident. I am most excited about World War II Veterans and Iowa Veterans Home residents, Vaughn Hauser and Ralph Alshouse, as Grand Marshals of the parade,” Marshalltown Area Chamber of Commerce Tourism Director Dylan Does said.

After the parade, a wide variety of kids activities, food trucks and kids games will be set up in the area, and baseball and softball games at Valor Field on the IVH grounds will begin at 1 p.m.

As the afternoon goes on, the festivities will move to the softball complex at 901 S. 6th St., and a host of musical performers are scheduled along with live pro wrestling and kids activities.

DJ Randy with America’s Music to Go will kick it off from 3 to 4 p.m., followed by Comando Norteno from 4 to 5 p.m., The Sears Band from 5:15 to 7 p.m., the Marshalltown Community Band from 7 to 7:30 p.m. and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. before the night culminates with the annual fireworks show beginning at dusk.

About 15 miles to the northeast in Garwin, the fun kicks off on Friday, July 4 with a theme of “Stars, Stripes and Small Town Pride.” The sand volleyball tournament begins at 1:30 p.m. followed by the grand parade at 6 p.m. — thus, those who hope to hit two parades in the same day won’t have to drive far to do it — followed by Star Light Entertainment from 7 to 11 p.m. at the bandstand and food trucks on the north side of the park from 5 to 10 p.m.

A full slate of events is set for Saturday, July 5, starting with the Lion’s Club breakfast from 7 to 10 a.m., the 5K walk run beginning at 8 a.m. (registration at 7:30), flag raising at 8 a.m., the Wayne Judge Sr. Memorial Antique Power Show with a tractor ride at 2 p.m., Barefoot Becky from 9 a.m. to noon, the fire department hog roast from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., kids inflatables and water slide from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the city park, the dunk tank from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., dunk tank from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., bags tournament at noon, kiddie tractor pulls at 1 p.m., the famous Firecracker 4 Lawn Mower Races starting at 10 a.m., the 3-on-3 basketball tournament starting at 10 a.m., kiddie tractor pulls at 1 p.m., encore legends from 7 to 11 p.m., and of course, the fireworks at dusk.

To learn more about the Red, White and Blue celebration, visit https://marshalltown4thofjuly.com/, and a full scheduled for Garwin Freedom Days can be found at https://business.marshalltown.org/community-events/Details/garwin-freedom-days-1399912?sourceTypeId=Website.