SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- The Urban Districts Alliance will announce details on Thursday morning of its new Independence Day celebration in downtown Springfield. The event on July 4 will include a fireworks show at Hammons Field while the Springfield Cardinals are on a road trip in Texas.
The UDA has been working to put together a community Independence Day event since James River Assembly of God Church in Ozark canceled its plans for its annual I Love America celebration in northeast Springfield on the grounds of Springfield Underground. The church's patriotic and religious event attracted thousands of people each Independence Day for the past 14 years.
Springfield and the Springfield-Greene County Parks Department hosted for nearly 30 years a huge Independence Day celebration called Firefall at the north end of the Springfield National Airport grounds. That event was canceled in 2009 and 2010 after city revenue fell and it couldn't afford to help the Parks Department pay for it.
