PHOTOS: House music, an auto show, and parade mark fourth of July weekend festivities citywide
Both the Harvey Park District and city officials treated residents to Independence Day events.
Harvey was less than quiet last Saturday as residents reveled in the fourth of July festivities citywide.
The Harvey Park District hosted its seventh annual event that afternoon at the Gloria Taylor Hall, replete with face painting for children, an auto show, and even a Michael Jackson impersonator who shimmied and he-he’d to the sounds of Jackson’s classic tunes like “Thriller” and “Billie Jean.”
The roaring of motorbikes greeted residents as they entered the grounds of Gloria Taylor. House music blasted as residents relaxed in the sun with free BBQ and a mobile cigar lounge.
Hours later, city officials hosted the Independence Day parade—the first since Mayor Christopher J. Clark and this City Council took office in 2019—followed by a fireworks show that evening.
Laughter, residents scrambling for candy thrown from caravans, and cheers painted a much different picture of the Downtown Harvey area.
The caravan began at 153rd Street and Page Avenue, turned east on 154th Street before heading north on Broadway Avenue, where residents were treated to a carnival, which included food trucks and bouncy gyms.
That’s a shift from the parade’s route in prior years, which largely traversed 154th Street. That intersection is currently being renovated as part of the city’s sidewalk improvement project, which City Council approved earlier this year.
See photos of the joyous occasions here:
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Amethyst J. Davis is responsible for spearheading the growth and development of the HWH, including outlining the editoral trajectory and content. She also produces “The Renaissance Letter,” our biweekly email newsletter.
Amethyst was an administrator at New York University before launching her journalism career. She is also a member of the Sounding Board, the community advisory board for Chicago Public Media, which includes WBEZ Chicago and the Chicago Sun-Times. Amethyst was recently a Casey Fellow with the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) Black News & Views, where she covered health and COVID-19 for the NABJ’s newly launched digital news service.
Amethyst is a Brooks Middle School ('11) and Thornton Township High School alum (‘15) and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from NYU (BA'19). She recently completed the Data and Policy Summer Scholar program at the University of Chicago.
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