Salute to America 2015 kicks off in downtown Jefferson City with 80 tons of sand dumped in the street for a beach party in conjunction with Thursday Night Live at 6 p.m. today.
Also today, Missouri American Water Carnival Land will begin operating at Monroe Street and Capitol Avenue prior to that.
Activities downtown then resume on Friday afternoon, and the celebration culminates with fireworks on Saturday night.
On Friday and Saturday, "Bank On More" will sponsor sand sculptures Dan Blecher and Marianne Van der Broek. Blecher, St. Louis, is a 13-time Sand Sculpting World Champion, including three solo World Championships. He also made an appearance on Travel Channel's Sand Blasters. Van der Broek owns Sand Isle in Key West, Fla., with her partner, Chris, who is a regular on the Travel Channel's Sand Masters. Blecher and Van der Broek will be transforming the sand into masterpieces at 100 Madison.
Classic events include the live eagle show: the "most photographed" and "majestic" feature of Salute, explains Jill Snodgrass, festival director. On Broadway, Carroll Rehma brings the classic car cruise: Route 66, which has a large following every year.
The Backyard Games Tournament is a new highlight of Salute. There will be individual cornhole, washer and horseshoe competitions, all paying out $500 cash. The Backyard Boss competition will have participants throw 4 washers, 4 bags, and 4 horseshoes for the title Backyard Boss and a grand prize package. The Bud Light beer garden will be on tap for participants and viewers.
The Red, Bike & Blue, a patriotic family friendly bicycle ride will be making its first-time appearance, as well. This family-friendly event is a scenic seven-mile loop that encompasses the Capitol, the Missouri River Pedestrian Bridge and the Katy Trail access. All participants are encouraged to dress up and decorate their bikes in patriotic finery. The ride will begin and end at Red Wheel Bike Shop.
After the ride, food and beverage will be available. Kael Upschulte will provide the entertainment.
There will be no shortage of great fair food during the festival.
The Coca Cola Missouri Food Court will be serving from 4-11 p.m. on Friday and from 11 a.m-11 p.m. on Saturday in the 100 block of High Street. Most bars on High Street will be offering adult beverages in front of their establishments.
Budweiser will be sponsoring the main beer garden at the Central Bank lot with an entertainment stage hosted by Riley-Toyota.
One highlighted entertainer on the Riley-Toyota stage on Friday will be Groovethang, a seven-piece band, that has become known for their faithful interpretation of the hits of some of music's most popular groups, such as Steely Dan, Earth, Wind and Fire, The Doobie Brothers, Chicago, Al Green and the Bee Gee's. The band consists of vocals, percussion, trombone, bass guitar, sax, keyboard, drums and lead guitar.
Groovethang plays everything from dance and pop, to soul and variety. On July 4 the featured beer garden entertainer will be Krickett Alley.
With six stages, Salute prides itself on offering something for everyone.
A youth stage on Madison, north of Capitol Avenue, along with the Missouri American Water's carnival land will appeal to kids of all ages. Joe Machens will bring stuntman Terry Russell to the The Absolute Sports stage at 300 East High Street.
The Madison stage sponsored by EcoWater will offer a variety of live musical entertainment, along with J. Pfenny's hotdog eating contest, and many more acts.
Salute's headliner on Saturday, July 4, is Kevin Chalfant's Journey Experience performing on the Capitol stage at 7:30 p.m. The festival finale will be Red, White & BOOM, a spectacular fireworks sky concert presented by Missouri Credit Union. A simulcast of music will be played by Nash 100.1 FM.
Link: