Saturday, July 3, 5 – 10 p.m.
Modern Woodmen Park, 209 South Gaines Street, Davenport IA
LeClaire Park, 400 Beiderbecke Drive, Davenport IA
Schwiebert Riverfront Park, 17th Street and First Avenue, Rock Island IL
Following last summer's pandemic-caused delay, our area's annual explosions of July 3 return to Davenport's Modern Woodmen Park, LeClaire Park, and Rock Island's Schwiebert Riverfront Park when the Quad Cities hosts its Fourth of July celebration Red, White, & Boom!, the holiday event that delivers a spectacular fireworks display over the Mississippi River as well as live music, food and beverage vendors, special presentations, family programming, and more.
Preceding the festivities at Davenport's Modern Woodmen Park, the Quad Cities River Bandits will host the Cedar Rapids Kernels in a professional minor-league baseball game at 6 p.m., with the band Class of '82 performing favorite 1980s pop and synth hits in the stadium immediately afterward.
Directly across the river, the Rock Island gates at Schwiebert Park will open at 5 p.m. with music provides by DJ Jeff James at 5 p.m. and the '80s tribute band Past Curfew at 7 p.m. Activities for the kids include face painting and glow merchandise for sale, and a wide variety of food and drink vendors will be on-site, with a special bier garten area hosted by Bent River Brewing Company.
And in Davenport's LeClaire Park, the local musicians of Identity Crisis will begin performing at 6 p.m., with the Red, White, & Boom! Event teeming with activities for children and families; a bounce obstacle course; a bounce house; giant versions of Connect 4, Jenga, Checkers, and Tic-Tac-Toe; potato sack races; patriotic glow-in-the-dark tattoos; red, white, and blue glow-stick necklaces; and an opportunity to write letters and color pictures to send to American troops elsewhere in the country and abroad.
As for the literal highlights of the evening, 9:30 p.m. fireworks will be launched from two barges on the Mississippi River, and synced to music heard throughout the Iowa and Illinois parks. Admission to Red, White, & Boom! in both states is free, the fireworks display is also viewable in Davenport's Bechtel Park and Freight House Farmers Market parking lots, and more information on the bi-state festivities is available by visiting RedWhiteAndBoomQC.org.