Fourth of July Centerville
Centerville's Fourth of July, from the parade to the fireworks
The Centerville Freedom Festival, and how the town does the Fourth of July
Every summer around Independence Day, Centerville hands Main Street and its two city parks over to a few days of parade, flyover, fun run and fireworks. Here is the shape of the weekend, what to plan around if you are coming, and where to find this year's exact times.
By Scott Buehler, Moving Utah
Updated October 2026
The short answer
The Freedom Festival is Centerville's Fourth of July, and it is bigger than one afternoon. The city runs it over a few days around Independence Day each summer: a fun run and a parade down Main Street on the morning of the Fourth, a flyover timed to lead the parade in, two evening events in the city parks, and fireworks after dark at the community park on the west side of town. Most of it carries no admission. The exact dates and start times reset every spring, so take those from Centerville City rather than from an events listing, and read on for the shape of the weekend and what to plan around.
What the weekend looks like
Two parades, a flyover, a fun run, and fireworks to close it out
For a town its size, Centerville does the Fourth of July at full length. The celebration spreads across a few days rather than one afternoon, and it moves between Main Street and two city parks, so the useful thing to carry going in is the shape of it rather than a single time.
Most towns run one parade. Centerville runs two. The big one goes down Main Street on the morning of the Fourth, from the north end of town near 1450 North Main south to Pages Lane, close to two miles of State Route 106 straight through the old grid. That is a longer route than the town's size suggests, and it traces the historic heart of Centerville, the same stretch of Main Street lined with the town's oldest buildings. A flyover is timed to lead the parade in a few minutes ahead of the first entry, weather and aircraft permitting, which is the sort of touch that makes the morning worth getting to early.
The other parade is for children, and it runs the evening before on the east side of the grid, a short walk from Main Street. Kids decorate bikes, wagons and strollers and ride it up to William R. Smith Park, where the evening's events are already setting up. Founder's Family Fun Night follows in that park, with a flag ceremony, live music and a film after dark.
Anyone who runs should look at the Freedom Run first. Rotary puts on a 5K, a one mile and a short children's race from behind City Hall on the morning of the Fourth, finishing well before the parade steps off, so you can run and still claim a curb. It is the one part of the festival with a sign-up, and packet pickup is the day before at City Hall.
After the parade, the day moves west to the community park at 1350 North 400 West for Party in the Park, which runs from mid-morning until late. Expect a flag raising, local performances through the afternoon, food trucks and vendor booths, games and inflatables for the kids, a headline act in the evening, and the fireworks after dark to finish. The city does not set out chairs there, so bring your own.
Getting there and parking
Park once on the west side, and walk the rest
Everything on the Fourth happens either on Main Street or at the community park, and the two are about half a mile apart, so the simplest plan is to park once and walk. From I-15, take the Parrish Lane exit and head east, then turn north on 400 West for the park or on Main Street for the parade route. Expect Main Street to be closed along the parade for the morning, and expect the curb to have been spoken for the evening before, because chairs and blankets go out along the route the afternoon of the third. That is the local custom worth knowing: residents claim their spot a day early.
Each park carries an evening of its own. William R. Smith Park, on the east side of the grid, holds the third of July events and has only a small lot, so the city points overflow to the City Hall lot a couple of blocks away. The community park on the west side is the bigger venue, and it is the one the fireworks go up from.
The venues
Before you go
A few things worth knowing, including where you can and cannot light your own
One Centerville rule catches newcomers every July, and it has nothing to do with the city's own show. Under city ordinance, personal fireworks are restricted on Centerville's east bench for the whole of July, the dry ground that climbs toward the canyons on the mountain side of town. The rest of the year, and the flat rest of town, follow the ordinary state windows, but a bench address does not get to light fireworks at home in July. The city describes the restricted area in street names rather than on a map, and the full boundary and what a bench address should check are laid out on the moving to Centerville page. If you are not sure which side of the line a specific parcel falls on, confirm it with the city, since the ordinance itself is the authority.
That restriction and the city's own display are not in conflict, they are just geography. The municipal fireworks go up from the community park on the flat west side of town, well clear of the bench the rule protects. If you want to watch fireworks on the Fourth, that is the place; if you want to light your own, check your address against the July rule first.
Personal fireworks are restricted on Centerville's east bench through all of July. This is a standing city ordinance, separate from the festival, and it can change with state fire conditions, so check the current rule with Centerville City or the state fire marshal before you buy any. The festival dates and start times also reset every spring, so take this year's schedule from the city rather than from a listing.
Quick checklist
- Get this year's dates and times from Centerville City; the whole schedule resets each spring.
- The flyover leads the parade but depends on weather and aircraft, so treat it as planned, not promised.
- Bring a chair to Party in the Park; the city does not provide seating.
- Chairs and blankets go out along the parade route the afternoon before, so stake your spot early.
Living with it
What a festival like this says about the town you would be moving to
What the festival does to an ordinary Centerville week is short and concentrated. Main Street closes for one morning a year, the two parks are busy an evening apiece, and then the town goes back to being quiet. If you are weighing a move here, the more useful read is what the whole thing tells you: a small city that still runs its own free, multi day Fourth of July, publishes the plan, and turns out for it. That is a specific kind of place, and to some buyers it is worth as much as any number on a spreadsheet.
The rest of the county rounds it out. The big paid attractions, Lagoon and the water parks and the museums, sit in other Davis towns, and they are gathered up with prices and seasons on the family weekends in Davis County page. Centerville's own contribution to that list is this festival and the canyon trails behind town, which is a quieter kind of thing to have on your doorstep.
Scott Buehler
Moving Utah About Scott
Common questions
The festival, answered
The Freedom Festival is Centerville's Fourth of July, a free, city run celebration held over a few days around Independence Day each summer. It centers on a morning parade down Main Street, and fills out with a fun run, a children's parade, two evening events in the city parks, an all day party at the community park, and fireworks after dark on the Fourth.
It runs around Independence Day, in early July, and spreads across a few days rather than one. The exact dates move a little from year to year and are set each spring, so take them from Centerville City rather than from an events aggregator, which sometimes lists the wrong day.
The Parade on Main steps off on the morning of the Fourth and runs down Main Street. Centerville City posts the exact start time, along with the flyover that leads it, on its Freedom Festival schedule each spring, so check there for the current year rather than assuming last year's time.
The main parade runs down Main Street, State Route 106, from the north end of town near 1450 North Main south to Pages Lane, close to two miles straight through the old part of Centerville. The children's parade the evening before is a separate, shorter route on the east side of the grid that finishes at William R. Smith Park.
Yes. The city sets off a fireworks display after dark on the Fourth of July at the community park at 1350 North 400 West, on the west side of town, closing an all day event called Party in the Park. The city does not provide seating there, so bring a chair.
Not everywhere. Under a standing city ordinance, personal fireworks are restricted on Centerville's east bench, the dry ground under the canyons, for the whole of July, while the rest of town follows the usual state windows. The restriction can tighten with fire conditions, so check the current rule with Centerville City or the state fire marshal, and confirm which side of the line your address is on before you buy any.
There is no admission for the festival itself. The one part with a sign-up is Rotary's Freedom Run, which carries a race registration. Food, vendor booths and some of the activities are run by other groups on the day, and those are their own arrangements.
Yes. Rotary's Freedom Run is held on the morning of the Fourth from behind City Hall at 250 North Main, with a 5K, a one mile and a short children's race, finishing before the parade. It is the one ticketed piece of the weekend; packet pickup is the day before at City Hall, and you sign up through a race entry site.
No. America's Freedom Festival at Provo is a much larger, separately organized event in Utah County with its own history and program. Centerville's is a smaller, city run festival in Davis County. They share two words in their names and nothing else.
One morning on Main Street, and a town that still turns out for it
A small city that still runs its own multi day Fourth of July, publishes the plan and closes Main Street for a parade tells you something a listing sheet cannot. The address level questions are the ones I can actually help with: what the July fireworks rule means for a specific parcel, what the parade morning does to a Main Street address, how a bench street differs from a flat one, and what is on the market here. Tell me what you are weighing and I will connect you with a Davis County partner agent who works Centerville, and stay on the file for the financing side.
Or call Scott: (435) 357-4345or send Scott a message
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