Your Guide to the Fourth of July

Update, July 3: added Pleasant Hill information, added Livermore fireworks info, added maps of fireworks all over the Bay Area.

For some, the Fourth of July is the time for the patriotism to swell in your breast. Here are some venues for Independence Day in Walnut Creek and environs.

Free Concert in Civic Park

The Walnut Creek Concert Band will celebrate the birthday of America by filling Civic Park with patriotic music — including marches, Gershwin and Stephen Foster. Conductor Harvey Benstein promises a few surprises, too. It's 6 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, July 4.

Did you catch our story last month about Walnut Creek's Frank Walden, a Navy corpsman wounded on D-Day who finally got his Bronze Star on Memorial Day?

Pleasant Hill has fireworks - This town knows how to throw a Fourth of July party. The parade starts making its way through downtown at 9:30 a.m. This year, the Grand Marshal (or Marshals) are the folks at Friends of Rodgers Ranch. The fireworks start at 9:30 p.m. at College Park High School. Organizers advise getting there early and to bring a towel to sit on. Or a throne.

Address: 147 Gregory Lane, Pleasant Hill

The Pleasant Hill/ Walnut Creek Mothers Club is having a meetup at the parade.

Livermore has fireworks

A grassroots-effort helped bring back a Fourth of July fireworks display in Livermore. This year's display will be coupled with a community gathering to be held at 's stadium, 3000 Campus Hill Drive, from 4 to 10 p.m. $25 per car at the gate and $5 per person via walk-ins.

KKIQ's Faith Alpher will be the event MC and will be part of the scheduled entertainment.

For further details check out the or visit the event website.

Other fireworks

Here's a cool Patch map of fireworks around the Bay Area. You can also find fireworks in Moraga, and just north of Pier 39 in Moraga, San Francisco. There's a listing of fireworks all over the Bay Area at savvycities.com

Danville

The annual July 4th Parade begins at 9 a.m. and will run to about noon. The parade route runs from the corner of Hartz Avenue and Railroad Avenue, continues down Hartz and San Ramon Valley Boulevard, and ends at the corner of San Ramon Valley Boulevard and Sycamore Valley Road.

The parade is sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of San Ramon Valley. The club will also offer complimentary bicycle parking for parade attendees. Details on .

Breakfast and Lunch

Todos Santos Plaza, Concord, will be the setting for the 4th of July Jubilee celebration, where breakfast will be served from 6:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. by the Concord Diablo Rotary Club. Tickets cost $5. 

5K Race

The Concord Police Association's  will begin at 8:30 a.m., but show up at 7 a.m. if you still need to register. The race — see route here — is set up to benefit the Monument Crisis Center and other local community charities supported by the CPA. 

Entertainment

The Concord annual 4th of July Parade, which will begin at 10 a.m. on Salvio Street and Mira Vista Terrace. The parade will end near the Civic Center on Parkside Drive and will last until 3 p.m. 

Performances provided by the artists of the Willows Theatre will also take place at the Todos Santos Plaza stage until 3 p.m and the Concord Antique Faire will be set up around the plaza, according to the city website.

Music, Theatre and Fireworks

July 2, 3 and 4 is when the annual Singing Flag variety show and fireworks display are presented at Dave Brubeck Park by the . Music, dance, theatre performances, gospel and military tributes will take place for two hours before ending at dusk with fireworks over Concord High School.

The fun doesn't start until 4 p.m., but families can get into the park at 6 a.m. each day to reserve spots with a blanket. If you do decide to go that early, check out this Claycord video to see what the 6 a.m. "land grab" of 2010 was like. 

For more information, visit www.concordjuly4th.com

Want tips on how to photograph fireworks?