A float drives down A Avenue during the 2024 parade.

The Lake Oswego community will don red, white and blue attire and revel in the spectacle that is the Star Spangled Celebration July 3-4.

The two-day extravaganza will kick off with a musical performance by the Lake Oswego Millennium Concert Band at 7 p.m. Thursday, July 3.

The event will include a presentation of the colors by the Lake Oswego Honor Guard and continue with a performance by the concert band, which has been a staple of the community for many years and includes about 80 members.

“Their annual July 3rd concert is a cherished tradition, paying tribute to veterans and active-duty service members through a powerful selection of military marches, patriotic anthems, and moving musical tributes,” the city website reads.

The fun will continue at 10 a.m. on July 4 with a parade involving 58 local groups and organizations down A Avenue to Millennium Plaza Park. After the parade, there will be a pie-eating contest featuring 10 contestants who devour a pie as quickly as they can (registration is at 11 a.m.), face-painting, food trucks and more.

“I think the parade is unique because it’s so local to Lake Oswego, local business members, families and nonprofits that participate,” city of Lake Oswego parks and recreation supervisor Emily Liu said. “If you have lived in Lake Oswego for even the last 10 years it has changed significantly. It used to be a small town parade with more people in the parade than watching and that has reversed.”

Finally, the community is welcome to attend a concert and laser light show from 8-10:45 p.m. at Foothills Park. Party band Hit Explosion will perform popular tunes and lasers will light up the sky starting at approximately 10:15 p.m.

“The setting at Foothills is really cool because it’s on the Willamette, so you can see the laser light show that is spectacular but also fireworks lit off along the river,” Liu said.

For more information on the festivities, visit https://www.ci.oswego.or.us/parksrec/star-spangled-celebrations-2025.