Food, fun, and fireworks.
It must be the City of Lathrop’s annual July First Celebration.
In commemorating the city’s founding in 1989, the City of Lathrop will again be welcoming residents to a communitywide bash to celebrate the city’s 29th birthday with an event aimed at people of all ages. The free event will include carnival games, live music, inflatable bounce houses and games and fireworks to cap of the evening.
The festivities will begin at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, July 1, at the Lathrop Generations Center – located at 450 Spartan Way – and will continue through the fireworks show, which is set to begin at dark and is estimated to start between 9:15 and 9:30 p.m.
“It’s a yearlong process to put everything together for this annual event to move it forward and make sure that everything is in place,” said City of Lathrop Recreation Supervisor Jon Thomas. “It’s a great opportunity to celebrate Lathrop and get the community to come out and have some fun.”
In order to provide parking for the hundreds of people expected to turn out the city has partnered with the Manteca Unified School District to allow for use of the parking lot at Lathrop High School. In order to maintain safety for pedestrians who will be walking back-and-forth across Spartan Way, the city will be closing the thoroughfare to through traffic starting at 5:30 p.m. All traffic headed west on Spartan Way that is not headed to the parking lot at the high school will be diverted onto Golden Valley Parkway, and the city will open Land Park Drive at the conclusion of the fireworks show to allow vehicles to exit. The Dos Reis exit at the high school will also be opened up to prevent a traffic bottleneck.
Lathrop Police Services will be on hand to direct traffic and provide security for the event.
While the event is free to the public, tickets will be available for purchase for the inflatables, the carnival rides and the face painting, and there will be a cost associated with the food truck vendors who will be on site. The carnival games, the live music – being provided by the Carol Garcia Band in the amphitheater at the Generations Center – as well the fireworks and the parking are all free to the public.
The fireworks show is being cosponsored this year by the Lathrop Sunrise Rotary.
For additional information about the festivities visit www.lathrop.recdesk.com or call 209.941.7372.
To contact reporter Jason Campbell email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com or call 209.249.3544.
