Needham Fourth of July Festivities start Tuesday

By Evan Allen, Town Correspondent

Independence Day celebrations start early in Needham, with a Fireworks Spectacular on July 3, a parade on July 4, and entertainment and food on both days. This year’s theme is “Go forth and celebrate! The land of the free – because of the brave.”

A complete map of Tuesday and Wednesday’s activities can be found here. A Facebook page for the event can be found here.

Festivities begin at 5 p.m. on Tuesday at Memorial Park. There will be food tents with grilled food, sodas, ice cream and cotton candy, pony rides and face painting. From 7 p.m. to 9:15 p.m., there will be a concert, and after dark, a Fireworks Spectacular.

Wednesday will kick off early with an 8:30 a.m. annual 5k Road Race. At 8:45 there will be a Children’s Parade with decorated bikes and costumes, which will meet at Greene’s Field. At 9 a.m. on the town common there will be a salute and flag raising, and then the Grand Parade will kick off. A map of the parade route is available here.

There will be a craft fair and flea market from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., and food tents will be set up from 11 a.m. to 1:30 pm.

At noon there will be children’s races and contests, and at 2 p.m. there will be a swim meet at Rosemary Pool.

For baseball fans, there will be a Needham Little League All-Star Game at Memorial Field at 2 p.m.

Needham’s 4th of July festivities are put on by the Needham Exchange Club.

Evan Allen can be reached at evan.allen@globe.com