Beaufort County Fourth of July celebrations will start with a TrainWreck and end with the bang of Fireworks over the Pamlico River and Pantego Creek.

Belhaven’s 77th-annual Independence Day festivities started over the weekend with Little Miss Independence and Miss Independence pageants at the Wilkinson Center and continue with the street festival on Main Street today. Vendors and amusement rides open at 2 p.m., a slew of patriotic events follow and a street dance featuring party-band TrainWreck to end the evening.

Thursday’s celebrations start early in Belhaven, with a day of back-to-back events, culminating in fireworks on the waterfront at 9 p.m. Tucked in there is the much-anticipated parade and the Pantego Fire Department’s biggest fundraiser of the year, the Pantego Mud Run, in which drivers compete to plow their vehicles through a course of deep mud.

According to Pantego Fire Department Chief Derrick Myers, it’s always a popular event — one that last year brought in an $8,500 boost to pay for department expenses.

“We used (last year’s funds) to maintain our equipment and buy other equipment that we need during the course of the year,” Myers said. “This year, we ordered a brand-new firetruck, and it will take about a year to get it in. That’s a big expense. That truck is $300,000.”

Myers said gates open at 9 a.m.; registration begins at 10 a.m. He said he’s expecting both the heat and a crowd of five to six hundred people.

“We do provide a little cover in our bleachers, so it’ll still be hot, but you won’t be getting the beatdown of the sun,” Myers said.

In Washington, Fourth of July at Festival Park officially starts at 6 p.m. with local food vendors onsite and a concert by the Breadwine & Blooze band, a high-energy combination of shag, beach, country, blues, boogie and rock ‘n’ roll music, according to the band’s website. Fireworks wrap up the party at dark.

 

BELHAVEN EVENTS

July 3

2 p.m., Vendors and amusement rides open, Main Street
4 p.m., Kiddie Parade, River Forest Manor
5 p.m., Pie & Cake Contest, Police Department lot
6 p.m., Dunking booth, Police Department lot
6 p.m., Hot dog eating contest, Belhaven Fire Department
6 p.m., Twilight Hour, Belle Arts Gallery, 211 Pamlico St.

8-11 p.m., Street dance featuring TrainWreck, Main Street stage

 

July 4

9 a.m., Vendors and amusement rides open, Main Street
11 a.m., Belhaven parade, Main Street
12:30 p.m., Level Up video gaming, behind the market on Main Street
12:30 p.m.,  Down East Rods & Classics Car Show, Southern Bank
1-2 p.m., Dunking booth, Police Department Lot
1 p.m., Lawnmower pull, behind the market on Main Street
1:30 p.m. Pantego VFD Mud Run, U.S. Highway 264 West
2 p.m., Lucky Duck, Police Department Lot
1 p.m., live music – Nikki Selby, Wilkinson stage
1:45 p.m., live music – Chris Gibbs, Wilkinson stage
2:30 p.m., live music – Keane Warren, Wilkinson stage
3:15 p.m., live music – Trinity Methodist Choir, Wilkinson stage
4 p.m., live music – Tom Koch, Wilkinson stage
4:45 p.m., live music – Dave Rieves, Wilkinson stage
9 p.m., Fireworks, waterfront