Town of Vinton holds annual 4th of July Celebration at Vinton War Memorial

VINTON, Va. – All across Southwest Virginia, cities and towns celebrated the 4th of July in their own way.

This includes the Town of Vinton, who held their annual 4th of July Celebration at the Vinton War Memorial.

“The Fourth of July celebration at the War Memorial has been going on for decades,” Town of Vinton Director of Cultural Placemaking and Events Mandy Adkins said. “It’s an annual tradition in the Town of Vinton, our community really loves to celebrate the 4th of July together.”

Thousands of people flocked to the War Memorial lawn to watch the fireworks and enjoy the holiday with friends and family.

One such visitor was Henk Beumer, a native of the Netherlands who is visiting Roanoke with his girlfriend. Henk heard about the celebrations in Vinton and decided to see how the Americans celebrated their independence.

“I’m really looking forward to the fireworks. I know they must be bright,” Beumer said. [Also] just enjoying the party, meeting some people, have a couple of drinks and have something good to eat, like all the Americans do on the 4th of July.”

Everyone has their own reasons for sitting on the lawn, ranging from the multiple food trucks, spending time with family, and of course, the fireworks.

A bubble machine was popular with the younger members of the crowd, and a DJ was playing upbeat and family-friendly music for everyone, something that Paula Wallace and her family appreciated.

“They keep good music going,” Wallace said. “It’s kid-friendly music, lots of upbeat fun, and just creating an atmosphere for us to bring games and kind of have some downtime to just enjoy one another and the good weather.”

The work for the 4th of July never ends in Vinton. It’s a year-round effort that will pick up again as soon as the final firework lights up the night sky

“[We’re] prepping for July 4th on July 5th every year,” Adkins said. “So we’ll get through today, we’ll go through the weekend, and then on Monday, we’ll have conversations with our firework dispenser and our DJ, and our sound producers as early as Monday.”