Through our brilliant events and festivals, you’ll experience the vibrance of the Champaign-Urbana area! Discover something new every day!
Note: Fundraisers, sales, and meetings related to membership-based groups are not included on the calendar.
Arthur's Freedom Celebration & Fireworks
Downtown Arthur
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On the SATURDAY ON THE WEEKEND BEFORE the 4th, crowds estimated at over 30,000 people flock to Arthur for the Freedom Celebration.
Beginning on Saturday morning and continuing on Saturday right up to minutes before the fireworks, helicopter rides, food vendors, and much more to do in Arthur.
Saturday begins with a big parade downtown at 2pm and other activities. You will have plenty of time to enjoy the downtown festivities before heading back to Jurgens Park (about 4 blocks south) for the evening’s activities.
Head to the fairgrounds on the south edge of Arthur in the late afternoon to gain a good vantage point to enjoy the activities. Arthur offers a reason to come even earlier! Food stands, a baseball tournament, an air show, skydivers, and one recent year, a “F-115 stealth fighter” fly over brought the crowd to its feet. Back this year is Central Illinois Air from Mattoon, offering the ever-popular onsite helicopter rides beginning around 4pm at a cost of $20 per person.
But these are just a prelude to one of the biggest fireworks displays in central Illinois. Beginning at approximately 9:30pm, a continuous, 24 minute barrage of thousands of aerial displays including some of the biggest shells available in the country fill the night sky, all timed to music simulcast on 106.7 FM/The Fox.