America250 preview: Sioux Falls details plans for July 4 celebration

The 50-day countdown to the America250 celebration in Sioux Falls has begun, and activities that weekend will include patriotic displays, potlucks and, yes, an Independence Day parade on the Fourth of July.

Volunteers involved in planning the museum exhibits, gatherings and activities gave a preview of how Sioux Falls will celebrate the United States’ 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence’s signing.

Some activities have already taken place. Two lights hung in the state Capitol dome in April commemorated the anniversary of Paul Revere’s ride. Others will happen before and after July 4, with a Flag Day celebration on June 14 in Terrace Park and the reading of the Declaration of Independence on July 6 at the Battleship South Dakota Memorial.

The 2026 Sioux Falls Airshow, “Power on the Prairie,” scheduled for July 18-19 at the South Dakota Air National Guard base, will include a mobile museum highlighting the 250th anniversary, said organizer Rick Tupper.

City Councilor Rich Merkouris highlighted the neighborhood potlucks on July 6, which will be organized by neighborhood associations, churches or anyone willing to take the initiative.

“Let’s get some potlucks scheduled,” he urged.

The Independence Day parade, however, will for many people be the activity they associate with America250. When it happens — and it will only be canceled because of threats of a tornado or lightning, said Aaron Levisay, the main organizer — it will be because hundreds of volunteer hours and willing sponsors.

Sioux Falls hasn’t hosted a Fourth of July parade since 2022 after beginning the annual event in the early 2000s. Threats of inclement weather canceled the parade in 2023 and 2024. In 2025, the city canceled the parade in June, citing low participation.

Levisay, a retired master sergeant, agreed to serve as committee chairman of the America’s 250th Sioux Falls Independence Day Parade after he proposed the idea at a planning meeting in January.

Since then, Levisay and others have worked to make it happen. The event, which could include 100 entries, will take place at 10 a.m. July 4 on Phillips Avenue, running from 14th to Sixth streets.

“Everybody has been so strong and helpful,” he said. “Sometimes in one room, some really good things can happen.”

Registration for additional entries before the June 16 deadline can take place at the parade’s website, which also offers merchandise such as T-shirts, mugs and dog bandannas. Levisay has reached out to drum lines and other musical groups that might want to participate.

Grand marshal for the parade will be Michael Fitzmaurice, a South Dakota native who received the Congressional Medal of Honor for valor during the Vietnam War. During the parade, Fitzmaurice will ride by a 2026 Sioux Falls SculptureWalk statue of himself. Levisay described Fitzmaurice as a “unifying figure” for the 250th anniversary celebration.

The Sioux Falls Municipal Band will make several appearances during the festivities. It will perform at 5:30 p.m. July 6 after the reading of the Declaration of Independence at the Battleship South Dakota Memorial, Diane Diekman said. The band also will make its first appearance in several years at the fireworks display the evening of July 4, said organizer John Small. Activities at the W.H. Lyon Fairgrounds are being moved one hour earlier, to 6 p.m., to fit in everything planned.

Levitt at the Falls is planning three days of music, said Rose Ann Hofland, vice president of programming. The schedule will include the Navy Band Northwest’s Popular Music Group on July 2, local musicians East of Westreville with guest fiddler Kenny Putnam on July 3 and jazz vocalist Andrea Ross & Her Big Band on July 4.

Organizations such as veterans’ groups and the Mary Chilton Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution have taken part in the planning. DAR members will be a big part of the parade and Flag Day activities, said member Deb Van Briesen, and the chapter has awarded $250,000 in grants for America250 events.

A reading of the Declaration of Independence also will be broadcast live on South Dakota Public Broadcasting on July 8, said Ben Jones, state historian and chairman of the South Dakota America’s 250th Commission.

Jones himself will take part in a smaller, more personal activity next week. When he was a student at the former Mark Twain Elementary 50 years ago, a time capsule was buried on the school grounds. It will be excavated on Wednesday at what is now Susan B. Anthony Elementary, and a new time capsule buried.

Current students have collected the items to be placed in the new time capsule.

“It will be interesting to see the things the students have collected,” Jones said. The two time capsules will bring people together, mark a milestone and show hope for the future.

Although only 50 days remain until the Fourth of July, planning will continue, Levisay said. And if more sponsors step up for the fireworks show, more activities can be added, Small said.

America250 activities are listed on the Experience Sioux Falls website.