The Palisades runs a big July 4th parade with a small-town feel
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The Palisades July 4th parade 2022. Photo courtesy of Alejandro Maldonado
D.C. goes big on the Fourth of July, but it's all about hometown Washington at the 57th-annual Palisades Parade and festivities.
Why it matters: It's the summer of nostalgia, and the historic Northwest D.C. neighborhood's July 4th parade, picnic, and hoedown — all free and open to the public — channel the stuff Americana dreams are made of.
🧑🌾 Flashback: The nostalgic celebration nods to the neighborhood's past as 19th-century farmland flanked by the C&O Canal, and later, as a summer cottage destination for city dwellers.
- The Palisades Community Association has put on the parade every year since 1966 — virtually in 2020 — but the 1916 organization is responsible for more than a century of July 4th festivities.
🎉 What's happening: The parade starts at 11am and runs roughly 1.5 hours with dancers, floats, musicians, and beauty queens, and has included local politicians — D.C. mayors from Marion Barry to Muriel Bowser.
- The parade is bookended by a Hoedown on the Green on July 3 (6pm-8:30pm) with live bluegrass music, free ice cream, and pie eating and baking contests in Palisades Park.
- On July 4th, a post-parade picnic (12pm-2pm) offers free food and drinks: Masons grilling 3,000 hot dogs, Lions Club members pouring 100 gallons of lemonade and iced tea, and neighbors slicing 70 watermelons — plus bounce houses, balloon art, and a dunk tank.
🥁 Zoom in: This year's parade grand marshals are WAMU radio stars Kojo Nnamdi and Tom Sherwood.
- They'll lead an eclectic lineup of dance troupes, skateboarding groups, Scottish bagpipers, Chinese dragons, pipe-and-drum bands, school floats, Rockland's antique truck, D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, Miss District of Columbia, and "whoever else decides to show up," says Palisades Parade organizer Jessica Davis.
- "You don't have to register, it's always a very homegrown thing."
🚲 Pro tip: Public transportation is limited and roads close early. Best to walk, bike, or park in the residential neighborhoods (or by the canal).
- Per Palisades resident Cuneyt: "Bring a lawn chair to set up on the grassy median. There are a few Capital Bikeshare docks on MacArthur. For breakfast: Black Coffee, right on the parade route. But it will get crazysauce busy fast."
What they're saying: Though July 4th is very much a Palisades project — funded in part by an annual T-shirt design contest — all of Washington is welcome.
- "It's fun to watch people trickle in, candy is thrown, flags are thrown," says Davis. "Everything we do is intended to be enjoyed by everyone who wants to come."