4th Of July Celebrations

A man in a Boy Scout uniform playing a large drum labeled 'KORSCHGEN'S BAND ONE MAN' during a parade, with children watching from the sidewalk and a sign reading 'OLD FORT PLAYERS' in the background.

Parade

Celebrate the 4th of July with Fort Madisonโ€™s 113th annual Charlie Korschgen Kiddie Parade! This parade is dubbed as "the oldest Fourth of July kiddie parade in the USA" by American Magazine.

Charlie Korschgen Kiddie Parade
Park with a gazebo decorated with patriotic bunting, a red and white striped tent, and a booth selling colorful tie-dye clothing, with trees and a clear blue sky in the background.

Picnic

Celebrate Independence Day with us in Central Park! There will be live music in the afternoon and the City Band performs at 7:30pm. Various vendors will served food during the day!

Central Park Picnic
Fireworks explode in the night sky above a lit gazebo in a park, with trees and benches visible.

Party

Fireworks will start approximately 9:30 pm (will be at the discretion of J&M Displays technician). Ave H will be closed off to help with the viewing experience.

Fireworks

Parade History:

"๐‘‡โ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ž๐‘‘๐‘’ ๐‘”๐‘œ๐‘ก ๐‘–๐‘ก๐‘  ๐‘๐‘’๐‘”๐‘–๐‘›๐‘›๐‘–๐‘›๐‘”๐‘  ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘๐‘˜ ๐‘–๐‘› 1913 ๐‘คโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘› ๐‘Ž ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘›๐‘” ๐ด๐‘‡&๐‘†๐น ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ ๐‘‘๐‘’๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘ก๐‘š๐‘’๐‘›๐‘ก ๐‘๐‘™๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘˜, ๐ถโ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘™๐‘’๐‘  ๐ถ. ๐พ๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘ ๐‘โ„Ž๐‘”๐‘’๐‘›, ๐‘ ๐‘Ž๐‘ค โ„Ž๐‘–๐‘  ๐‘›๐‘’๐‘–๐‘”โ„Ž๐‘๐‘œ๐‘Ÿโ„Ž๐‘œ๐‘œ๐‘‘ ๐‘˜๐‘–๐‘‘๐‘  โ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘‘ ๐‘›๐‘œ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘‘๐‘œ ๐‘œ๐‘› ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐น๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ๐‘กโ„Ž ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐ฝ๐‘ข๐‘™๐‘ฆ, ๐‘ ๐‘œ โ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ๐‘โ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘ ๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘Ž ๐‘‘๐‘œ๐‘ง๐‘’๐‘› ๐‘ ๐‘š๐‘Ž๐‘™๐‘™ ๐‘“๐‘™๐‘Ž๐‘”๐‘  ๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ž๐‘๐‘๐‘’๐‘‘ โ„Ž๐‘–๐‘  ๐‘ ๐‘›๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘‘๐‘Ÿ๐‘ข๐‘š ๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘›๐‘‘ โ„Ž๐‘–๐‘  ๐‘›๐‘’๐‘๐‘˜ ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘™๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘š ๐‘š๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘ฆ ๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘š๐‘’๐‘  ๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘๐‘™๐‘œ๐‘๐‘˜ ๐‘–๐‘› ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘ค๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘ก ๐‘’๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐น๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘ก ๐‘€๐‘Ž๐‘‘๐‘–๐‘ ๐‘œ๐‘›.

๐ป๐‘Ž๐‘ฃ๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘Ž ๐‘ก๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ž๐‘‘๐‘–๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘œ๐‘›, ๐พ๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘ ๐‘โ„Ž๐‘”๐‘’๐‘› ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘›๐‘ข๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘–๐‘  ๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘›๐‘’ ๐‘“๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ ๐‘š๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘ฆ ๐‘ฆ๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘ , ๐‘”๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ž๐‘‘๐‘ข๐‘Ž๐‘™๐‘™๐‘ฆ ๐‘–๐‘›๐‘๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘ ๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ž๐‘‘๐‘’ ๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘ก๐‘’ ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘๐‘ข๐‘ฆ๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘๐‘–๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘ก๐‘  ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘๐‘ฆ ๐‘ค๐‘–๐‘กโ„Ž โ„Ž๐‘–๐‘  ๐‘œ๐‘ค๐‘› ๐‘š๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘’๐‘ฆ. ๐น๐‘–๐‘›๐‘Ž๐‘™๐‘™๐‘ฆ, ๐‘๐‘ฆ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘š๐‘’ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ 1930โ€™๐‘  ๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘™๐‘™๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘›๐‘‘, ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘๐‘–๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘œ๐‘› โ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘‘ ๐‘”๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘ค๐‘› ๐‘ ๐‘œ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘ก ๐ถโ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘™๐‘–๐‘’ ๐‘”๐‘œ๐‘ก โ„Ž๐‘’๐‘™๐‘ ๐‘“๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘š ๐‘“๐‘’๐‘™๐‘™๐‘œ๐‘ค ๐‘ค๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘˜๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘  ๐‘Ž๐‘ก ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐ด๐‘‡&๐‘†๐น ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘›๐‘’๐‘–๐‘”โ„Ž๐‘๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘  ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘Ž๐‘ ๐‘ ๐‘–๐‘ ๐‘ก ๐‘ค๐‘–๐‘กโ„Ž ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘ก๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘  ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ž๐‘‘๐‘’.

๐‘‚๐‘›๐‘’ ๐‘™๐‘œ๐‘ฆ๐‘Ž๐‘™ ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘›๐‘”๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘Ÿ ๐‘คโ„Ž๐‘œ ๐‘ก๐‘œ๐‘œ๐‘˜ ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘ก ๐‘–๐‘› ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘“๐‘–๐‘Ÿ๐‘ ๐‘ก ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ž๐‘‘๐‘’, ๐ท๐‘œ๐‘› ๐‘‰๐‘Ž๐‘™๐‘’๐‘›๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘›๐‘’, ๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘Ž๐‘ฆ๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘ค๐‘–๐‘กโ„Ž ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ž๐‘‘๐‘’ ๐‘ข๐‘›๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘™ ๐ถโ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘™๐‘–๐‘’ ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘ ๐‘ ๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘Ž๐‘ค๐‘Ž๐‘ฆ ๐‘–๐‘› ๐ฝ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘ข๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘ฆ 1966 ๐‘Ž๐‘“๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘Ÿ ๐‘™๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘‘๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” 53 ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ž๐‘‘๐‘’๐‘ . ๐‘‰๐‘Ž๐‘™๐‘’๐‘›๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘›๐‘’ โ„Ž๐‘’๐‘™๐‘๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐น๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘ก ๐‘€๐‘Ž๐‘‘๐‘–๐‘ ๐‘œ๐‘› ๐ฝ๐‘Ž๐‘ฆ๐‘๐‘’๐‘’๐‘  ๐‘˜๐‘’๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘ก๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ž๐‘‘๐‘–๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘œ๐‘› ๐‘Ž๐‘™๐‘–๐‘ฃ๐‘’.

๐ต๐‘ฆ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ 1940โ€™๐‘ , ๐พ๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘ ๐‘โ„Ž๐‘”๐‘’๐‘› ๐‘ค๐‘Ž๐‘  โ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘ฃ๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” 500 ๐‘ก๐‘œ 1,000 ๐‘˜๐‘–๐‘‘๐‘  ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘๐‘–๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘’ ๐‘–๐‘› ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ž๐‘‘๐‘’, ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘๐‘ฆ 1946, ๐‘คโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘› ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐ฟ๐‘œ๐‘ฆ๐‘Ž๐‘™ ๐‘‚๐‘Ÿ๐‘‘๐‘’๐‘Ÿ ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘€๐‘œ๐‘œ๐‘ ๐‘’ ๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘ฃ๐‘–๐‘‘๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘ก๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘ , ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ โ€œ๐‘”๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘œ๐‘™๐‘‘-๐‘š๐‘Ž๐‘›โ€ ๐‘Ž๐‘  ๐ถโ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘™๐‘–๐‘’ ๐‘ค๐‘Ž๐‘  ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘™๐‘™๐‘’๐‘‘, ๐‘—๐‘ข๐‘ ๐‘ก โ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘‘ ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘”๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘–๐‘ง๐‘’ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ž๐‘‘๐‘’. ๐‘Š๐‘–๐‘กโ„Ž ๐‘Ž๐‘”๐‘’ ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘โ„Ž๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘ข๐‘ ๐‘ค๐‘–๐‘กโ„Ž ๐ถโ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘™๐‘–๐‘’ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐น๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘ก ๐‘€๐‘Ž๐‘‘๐‘–๐‘ ๐‘œ๐‘› ๐ฝ๐‘ข๐‘›๐‘–๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ ๐ถโ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘š๐‘๐‘’๐‘Ÿ ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐ถ๐‘œ๐‘š๐‘š๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘๐‘’ ๐‘ฃ๐‘œ๐‘™๐‘ข๐‘›๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘ก๐‘Ž๐‘˜๐‘’ ๐‘œ๐‘ฃ๐‘’๐‘Ÿ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘”๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘–๐‘ง๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘œ๐‘› ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ž๐‘‘๐‘’ ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘›๐‘ข๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘‘๐‘œ ๐‘ ๐‘œ ๐‘ข๐‘›๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘™ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘™๐‘œ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘™ ๐ฝ๐‘Ž๐‘ฆ๐‘๐‘’๐‘’ ๐ถโ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘Ÿ ๐‘‘๐‘–๐‘ ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘–๐‘› 1999. ๐‘†๐‘–๐‘›๐‘๐‘’ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘ก ๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘š๐‘’ ๐‘Ž ๐‘ ๐‘š๐‘Ž๐‘™๐‘™ ๐‘‘๐‘’๐‘‘๐‘–๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘”๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘ ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐‘ฃ๐‘œ๐‘™๐‘ข๐‘›๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘  โ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘ฃ๐‘’ ๐‘˜๐‘’๐‘๐‘ก ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ž๐‘‘๐‘’ ๐‘”๐‘œ๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘–๐‘› 2008 ๐‘–๐‘›๐‘๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘Ž๐‘  ๐‘Ž ๐‘›๐‘œ๐‘›-๐‘๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘“๐‘–๐‘ก ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘œ๐‘›." Fort Madison Daily Democrat - July 4, 2019

Be a part of this Fort Madison tradition tomorrow morning either by walking in the parade, watching along the parade route or via facebook live as we will take part in the parade!