City Celebrates July 4th With Annual Wells Fargo Red, White and Blue Festival
July 1, 2015
Popular festival to honor local military veteran
GREENVILLE, SC – The annual Wells Fargo Red, White and Blue festival, which features one of the state’s largest fireworks display, continues to be the premiere July 4th event in the Upstate, making downtown Greenville the celebration destination for more than 50,000 festival-goers. Named a Top 20 Event in the Southeast, the free event scheduled for Saturday, July 4 from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. will feature a full evening of entertainment, including live music on two stages, a Zaxby’s Kidz Zone and a variety of popular food and beverage vendors.
This year’s event will feature the Wells Fargo Stagecoach, a replica of a stagecoach from the Old West, for festival-goers to have a souvenir photograph taken. In addition, Wells Fargo will honor Sgt. Andrew Mitchell, a local military veteran. Sgt. Mitchell served in the U.S. Army Infantry for six years and was deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. During his service, Sgt. Mitchell survived a mortar round explosion that ended his military career and came close to ending his life. Sgt Mitchell is an alumni of the Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) and volunteers with the local Disabled American Veterans chapter and Upstate Warriors Solutions, which provides much-needed services for the veterans’ community in the Upstate. Wells Fargo will honor Sgt. Mitchell with the Wells Fargo Military Hero Award on the CPI Security Stage at the Peace Center Amphitheatre at 6:15 p.m.
“We are pleased to continue our sponsorship of the Red, White and Blue festival as we celebrate the founding of our great nation,” said Brian Rogers, Senior Vice President, Wells Fargo. “It helps demonstrate our ongoing commitment to the Greenville community. Our goal is to help build strong, vibrant communities and make a positive difference. This year, we’re proud to honor one of our local veterans from the Greenville community, Sgt. Andrew Mitchell, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Wells Fargo is known as America’s community bank and we’re responsible for promoting the long-term economic prosperity and quality of life for everyone in our communities. If our communities prosper, we all prosper.”
Attendees will again be treated to spectacular fireworks presented by Bon Secours St. Francis Health System. This year’s fireworks will be synchronized to patriotic music and simulcast live from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. on radio station 92.5 WESC. The fireworks show will begin at 9:45 p.m., and the best viewing will be on Main Street from Court Street to Falls Park Drive. A full entertainment schedule is included below.
The City has worked to maximize public safety and to minimize traffic delays, both coming into the city and leaving the downtown area. To assist them in those efforts, festival-goers are urged to plan their routes into and out of the city, and to park in a garage or lot located in the section of downtown closest to where they are coming from. For example, recommended parking locations for motorists entering downtown from HWY 123 would include the River Street and the Poinsett garages; for motorists entering downtown from I-385, recommended parking locations would include the Church Street and the Commons garages.
To aid residents and visitors who are planning to attend Wells Fargo Red, White and Blue, the Greenville Police Department has developed the attached map which includes the festival site, downtown parking locations and planned traffic control patterns. A copy of the map can also be downloaded at www.greenvillesc.gov.
Additional event sponsors include Pepsi, Michelin, Zaxby’s, CPI Security, iHeart Media and 92.5 WESC, WYFF 4, Budweiser, The Greenville Journal, Cricket Wireless, Ultimate Gutter Guard, South Carolina Blue Retail, Bath Fitter, Penske Truck Rental and Oobe.
Event attendees are invited to come early and bring lawn chairs and blankets. Pets and coolers are not allowed at Wells Fargo Red, White and Blue. Additionally, tailgating in City parking garages is not permitted. For more information about the event, visit events.greenvillesc.gov or follow the City on Facebook at facebook.com/cityofgreenvillesc and Twitter at twitter.com/citygreenville.
