This year’s Pottstown GoFourth! Festival Independence Day celebration will have a retro festival vibe with plenty of Grateful Dead/bohemian-inspired merchandise featuring vintage style graphics with a local twist to show off your Pottstown pride.

The day will begin with the Rotary Club of Pottstown July 4 parade on High Street from Adams Street to York Street, beginning at 10 AM.

The Pottstown GoFourth! Street Fest will get underway at 11:15 AM and continue until 4 PM. Stroll High Street from Penn Street to York Street to enjoy live music, local restaurant fare and popular food trucks, Pottstown’s brew pubs and beer gardens, artisans and other vendors, nonprofit information exhibits, and children’s activities.

Kids Zone will be focused in the area between Penn Street and Hanover Street, and Kids Zone activities are free. Additional face painters will help to accommodate demand for this very popular attraction. There will be games and entertainment, including two magic shows by Happy the Clown and living history presented by the Shire of Hartshorn-dale, including reenactments, medieval history, dance, costumes, and combat. Scotty Cavanaugh, an “action-comedy juggler” who performs on unicycle, returns again this year.

Live musical entertainment will be featured at Smith Family Plaza in the 100 block of High Street. JoAnn Bathurst will open the show with the National Anthem. Following are Jazz/R&B group Anakai Ney and The Grooveyard. Next up are Hector Rosado y Orchestra Hache, returning for their seventh performance at the festival. New to the GoFourth! stage is Middle Class, which specializes in modern rock and won the title of Philadelphia’s 102.9 WMGK House Band.

At Memorial Park for the Fireworks Party, the show opens with DJ Q Ball spinning some great tunes for the crowd. Modern Luxe is back by popular demand and will close out the evening. Live sound is sponsored by and provided by Montgomery County Community College’s Sound Recording & Technology Department.

Attendees can enjoy all the events of the day with a beverage from Sly Fox Beer Garden and food from one of the many food trucks. A number of High Street restaurants also will be open to customers.

The Rotary Duck Race Drawing will take place at 3 PM on High Street in the vicinity of Smith Family Plaza. This event raises money for vital area nonprofit organizations.

The Fireworks Party will kick off at 5 PM in Memorial Park, and Grandpop Bubbles — a favorite of both kids and adults — will be in the park from 5 PM until dusk.

The pyrotechnics, presented by Sky Shooter Displays, will begin at 9:30 PM.

Parking will be available at Montgomery County Community College’s South Hall. Parking is also available on the streets where appropriate and in the Borough of Pottstown lots at South Hanover Street near the train tracks, the lots at High Street and Evans Street, and the lot on King Street between Hanover and Penn streets. Premium fireworks parking passes will be available, but parking tickets are required.

The Colebrookdale Railroad Fireworks Express will depart at 7 PM from the Boyertown station, arriving in plenty of time for the show. Tickets are available.

Pottstown GoFourth! recognizes these valued top-level sponsors to date:

• Fireworks Sponsor: Precision Polymer Products
• Entertainment Sponsor: Switchpoint Foundation
• Rotary Club of Pottstown Parade: Creative Health Services
• Kids Zone Sponsors: Pottstown Area Health and Wellness Foundation and ROG Orthodontics
• Platinum Sponsor: The Hill School Student Philanthropy Council
• Drone Sponsor: Creative Health Services
• Gold Sponsors: Fox Rothschild, PECO, Fast Signs of Pottstown

Sponsorships are still available as planners work to meet the significant costs of making this community celebration extraordinary. Learn more about sponsorships and how to volunteer.

Donations are welcomed, and donors will be recognized in the Pottstown Mercury. To donate, visit Pottstown GoFourth! or write a check payable to Tri-County Community Network and send to:

Pottstown GoFourth!
P.O. Box 1362
Pottstown, PA 19464

Vendors and nonprofits who would like to set up a stand or table should contact Darlene Bainbridge at PG4Vendors@gmail.com. The registration deadline is June 10.

“Support for Pottstown GoFourth! Festival has been very enthusiastic this year,” said Amy Wolf, co-chair of the event. “The community has embraced this event since our inception in 2017. Pottstown GoFourth! has evolved into a true community builder, not just on the Fourth of July but all year long. We help promote pride in Pottstown and want the kids especially to feel that sense of community and camaraderie that is so special in Pottstown.”

Amy Francis, co-chair, reiterated the success of having daytime festivities downtown, with a continued focus on improving visibility and foot traffic for Pottstown’s ever-expanding small businesses.

“Through events like PG4 Street Fest and our July 4th Fireworks Bash — as well as a host of other community celebrations and live music and entertainment offerings — we’re collectively putting Pottstown on the map as the place to be,” said Francis. “With all of the incredible eateries, breweries, and charming shops popping up, our town is truly coming into its own. We hope that you’ll join us on the Fourth of July for a sampling of all of the great things happening in Pottstown and keep coming back all year long to enjoy all that our town has to offer!”