Summer is officially here, and it's time for some of the best-loved traditions in New Bedford to kick off July.

The 45th annual Cape Verdean Recognition Parade will be held on Saturday, July 1 at 11:00 a.m. The parade starting point will be Rockdale Avenue and Union Street at Buttonwood Park, and the parade will follow a different route than it has in years past.

It will start off heading east on Union Street, then south onto County Street, turning east onto Spring Street, turning south onto Acushnet Avenue, turn west onto Grinnell Street, then turning north onto Purchase Street. The parade will end at the reviewing stand located at the Cape Verdean American Veteran’s Memorial Hall at 561 Purchase Street.

"That is a great event, that is in many ways, the city's unofficial Fourth of July parade, but it also celebrates Cape Verdean independence," Mayor Jon Mitchell said. "So we want people to get out there."

Then on Tuesday, New Bedford will hold its annual Independence Day fireworks display over New Bedford Harbor.

It's a great night," Mitchell said. "Hopefully, the weather will cooperate. That ususally does make a difference. But people should come down and have fun. It's been a terrific event for the last several years now," Mitchell said.

Hawthorn Medical Associates contributed $10,000 to support the fireworks display, continuing a long-standing tradition of company sponsorship of the annual event.

The fireworks display will be staged from a barge located off of State Pier in New Bedford Harbor, beginning at 9 p.m. Tuesday night. Spectators planning to watch the display in Downtown New Bedford are encouraged to park for free in the Elm Street Garage and Zeiterion Parking Garage.

State Pier will not be accessible during the fireworks and there will be no parking on State Pier on the evening of July 4th. Lower Union Street (east of Water Street) will be closed to vehicle traffic and will be the best spot in the Downtown for pedestrians to view the fireworks display.

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