What better way to kick off summer and the second half of 2022 than July 1st falling on a Friday and the Cary Summer Celebration. While the Cary Summer Celebration, included in our “4th of July Guide,” may not be the biggest fireworks display around, it is one not to be missed. This is definitely one of those “just the right size” events. Held at the Cary Lion’s Park, the Cary Park District pulled together a great evening.
The Lion’s Park is home to a number of community events and continues to be a great location for the Summer Celebration. The giant hill means you are virtually guaranteed a great view of both the bandshell as well as the fireworks.
You can literally be a few yards from your car in one direction while only a few yards from the fireworks in the other direction. Best of all, other than a few overly anxious attendees trying to exit, it is a very friendly, low-key event.
Address: 1200 Silver Lake Rd, Cary, IL 60013
The Hat Guys provided some great music, spanning both decades and genres, with a little bit of everything for everybody. I can honestly say I’ve never seen a band openly embrace a stage full of kids and even some parents.
And once you got over the initial shock of potential damage either to equipment or people, it yielded the kind of easy-going, backyard kind of vibe that you couldn’t help but feel good about. And as I write this on the 4th, with the terrible news from Highland Park, it’s the kind of vibe needed to push on through to tomorrow.
If you didn’t feel like pulling together a meal beforehand or to bring, no problem as the food trucks were in force with the Brothers’ BBQ, My Funnel, Your Sister’s Tomato, and Joey’s Red Hots. And they were serving up non-stop with people lined up from beginning to end.
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A near-perfect evening with amazing weather. Improvements? Really nothing major, but an additional food truck could probably be supported, a few portable restrooms down by the stage, maybe “painting” a few pathways along the hillside, an announcement with a little more time before shutting off the lights…there were a few panicked kids and parents scrambling to find each other in near pitch dark conditions, and maybe a revised and more organized exit plan…unfortunately there is a bit of a dis-incentivization for arriving early as first in ends up being last out from the parking.
But these are all really minor overall in what was a well-organized and wonderful event. Truly, hats off to the Cary Park District and all those who helped make the Summer Celebration a success. If you didn’t make it this year, then I hope you’ll enjoy these photos, which are really just a glimpse, so be sure to mark your calendar for next year’s event!
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President and Founder of Identity Developments, LLC, the parent company of the McHenry Life website. My hope for McHenry Life is to create a resource and destination for the residents and businesses of McHenry County alike. A place where residents can discover new places to explore, fun events and ways to spend time, and then share those experiences with others. A place where businesses can connect with existing and potential customers, and not simply market their businesses, but share their own unique stories.
