Salute to the 4th

Salute to the 4th in Silver Lake Park is back for another day of food, fun, fireworks, and stoke. This year, it’s bigger than ever. More sponsors, more music, more tricks, and more… football?

That’s right. The event, known for taking a broad swath of Rochester culture and tossing it all into the same park for a day, is adding free football boot camps to the mix. Players from the Med City Freeze football team, who finished their first regular season with a 7-1 record, will be hosting the camps, which are for players in grades 2 through 8.

The event kicks off at 1 p.m. with the skate and BMX contest, done in conjunction with Keep Pushing Forward, a nonprofit aimed at preserving and improving the existing skate park. It underscores the subtle community-building going on at Salute to the 4th; the foundation will be doing a silent auction and raffle as a fundraiser, proceeds of which go directly back to the skate park.

At 1, the beginner heats go off, followed by intermediate and expert heats. There will be a best trick contest on Rochester-native pro skater Alec Majerus’ favorite feature, the 8 stair, and a best rail trick contest on portable rails provided by a sponsor. The winner gets the rail; whether they donate it back to park is up to them.

The music is beefed up this year, too. A stage in the soccer field will host country, folk, blues, and rock act The Listings, and indie rockers The Heavy Set during the day. Once the fireworks start, they’ll pump in Laser 101.7’s coordinated fireworks broadcast, then open the stage back up for funk champions Suite after the end of the explosions.

Also new this year - a food truck festival. Four trucks have already signed up, including Mac’s, Twisted Barrel Wood Fired Pizza, Don’s Crumble Beef, and Back Alley. Trucks will be around until after the fireworks.

The Kawasaki Team is coming for the Rochester Motor Cars-sponsored car and motor show, and there will also be super cars to marvel at.

"A lot of local flavors are getting together. It’s really an all day community festival, it’s what we wanted it to be from the beginning, and now it’s turning into that," says Sankesh Prabhakar, a member of The Commission, the volunteer group of young professionals responsible for organizing the day.

If all the activity has you flustered, fear not, as, according to Commission Member Kurt Hohberger, "You could just hang out in a lawn chair all day and have a really good time."

1:00 pm - Skate/BMX Contest Starts

3:00 pm - Car & Motorcycle Show/Med City Freeze boot camp/live music/food trucks

3:00 pm - The Listings (Apollo Music Group DJs between acts)

5:30 pm - The Heavy Set

8:00 - 10:00 pm - Rochester Civic Music performance

10:00 -10:30 pm - Fireworks

10:30 - 12:00 am – Suite