NEENAH (NBC 26) — In the City of Neenah, Riverside Park hosted "Community Fest," a Fourth of July celebration complete with activities from facepainting to extreme biking and everything in between.
Starting at 11:30 a.m., a parade of kids on kicked off the event driving from entrance to exit of the park.
After that, options like a petting zoo, free ice cream, and a reading of the Declaration of Independence started to appear.
On the Main Stage, the Wisconsin Singers' Company Manager Lauren Meyer was especially excited for the opportunity to perform on the stage of her hometown.
She said she remembered growing up and visiting Community Fest with her grandfather, so it was cool to see other families doing the same thing from her new vantage point on stage.
"It's really fun being back in Neenah; this my hometown, so it's fun to bring it to my community and have my friends and family get to see it in our own park," Meyer said.
"It's not every day that you get essentially like a little mini carnival set up in your town. So it's fun to enjoy those unique things," said Meyer.
Another person who said she'd been coming to the park for her whole life was Mayor Lang.
She also talked about the significance of the holiday.
"[It's] the freedom that we have to come out and celebrate as families and friends together. We should never take it for granted. And I just think it's a great reminder to all of us to cherish that freedom that we have," Lang said.
The celebrations culminated in a fireworks display over the lake, for people in both Neenah and Menasha to enjoy.
