Richmond Concert Band Plays its 40th Fourth of July

Our own Dogwood Dell Fourth of July celebration may be the only place in America where you can here Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture performed with a live ensemble, a carillon, cannon fire, and the fireworks all on-site, not scattered about, piped in, or pre-recorded.  The Richmond Concert Band has a 40 year tradition of entertaining the masses at this fun celebration.

Click here for an interview with Richmond Concert Band director Dr. Mark Poland on our local radio station, WCVE.  The Monday evening performance begins at 5 pm--an eclectic mixture of hip hop and jazz precedes a carillon concert at 7 pm.  The Concert Band is meant to take the stage at 7:30 pm.  It may rain Monday--check your weather forecast.
I went to these festivities for the very first time last year and was surprised at how truly entertaining the whole evening turned out to be.  The  kind of food you have foresworn all year is everywhere to be found--fried dough, fried butter, fried fries, frozen liquids in all the wrong colors.  The fireworks explode over your head.  Veterans--young, old, men, women--stand while the band plays the official songs for the various branches (The Coast Guard Anthem, Anchors Aweigh, The Army Goes Rolling, The Marine Hymn,  "Off We Go Into the Wild Blue Yonder".  Even the traffic was epic.