Fourth of July in Ozaukee County 2026: Every Parade, Fireworks Show & Festival

This is not an ordinary Fourth of July. July 4, 2026 marks America's 250th birthday — the semiquincentennial, if you want to impress someone at the parade — and it lands on a Saturday, which means Ozaukee County's small-town celebrations get a full weekend to stretch out. And few places in Wisconsin do a hometown Fourth better than Ozaukee County: a two-hour parade through a historic downtown, fireworks over limestone kilns, a lakefront picnic in a harbor town, and a water-ski show on the Milwaukee River, all within about 20 minutes of each other.

This guide covers every Independence Day celebration in Ozaukee County for 2026, organized by community, plus the pre-Fourth events that kick things off a week early. If you're plotting the wider region, our Milwaukee North Shore Fourth of July guide covers the Milwaukee County suburbs, and our statewide Wisconsin Fourth of July guide covers everything from Door County to Lake Geneva if you're traveling.

Related: Celebrating the Fourth of July in the Milwaukee area

Saturday, June 27: the warm-up weekend

Two of the county's biggest summer days happen simultaneously the Saturday before the Fourth, so pick your lane — or get ambitious and do both.

Family Fun Before the Fourth — Mequon-Thiensville

Mequon and Thiensville's beloved day-long Independence Day celebration is Saturday, June 27, 2026 at Thiensville Village Park. The parade steps off at 10:30 a.m. near the Frank L. Weyenberg Library on Cedarburg Road, runs north on Main Street through downtown Thiensville, east on Freistadt Road, south on Green Bay Road, east on Riverview Drive, and south on Elm Street into Village Park — more than a mile of floats, bands, and candy. Road closures begin at 10 a.m., so arrive early and stake your curb. Kids get free ice cream in the park after the parade.

The rest of the day is one of the best free family lineups in the county: live music, food vendors (including the Rotary's famous corn roast and Foxtown Brewing pours), the Badgerland Water Ski Show on the Milwaukee River, the Milwaukee Flyers tumbling team, a rock climbing wall, Mequon-Thiensville Little League All-Star games, a softball tournament, and games and demonstrations scattered through the park all afternoon. The day caps with fireworks at dusk over the Milwaukee River — organizers bill it as Ozaukee County's best display, though Grafton would like a word (see below). Bring blankets and chairs; details and schedule at familyfunbeforethefourth.com.

The Cedarburg Strawberry Festival

The Cedarburg Strawberry Festival runs Saturday and Sunday, June 27–28, 2026 in downtown Cedarburg — free admission, 100,000 visitors, shortcake by the thousands. If your crew wants to attempt the legendary Ozaukee double, here's the play: Strawberry Festival in the morning and early afternoon (shuttle lots open with the festival at 10 a.m.), then drive the 15 minutes south to Thiensville by 5 p.m. for the corn roast, evening music, and fireworks at dusk. You'll sleep well.

Grafton's Holidaze

Grafton's Holidaze is the village's Independence Day parade and celebration, and Celebrate Grafton has confirmed it's going big for 2026 in honor of America's 250th anniversary. The format is a local institution: a parade (in recent years stepping off at 4 p.m. from Kennedy Elementary and ending at Lime Kiln Park, 2020 Green Bay Road), followed by an evening in the park with live music, food, a beer tent, Touch a Truck, kids' games, and a fireworks show at dusk that organizers bill as the biggest in southeast Wisconsin outside the corporate displays — launched over Grafton's historic limestone kilns, which is as scenic as fireworks settings get. Holidaze has floated around the calendar in recent years (typically the Saturday before the Fourth), and with July 4 itself falling on a Saturday in 2026, watch grafton-wi.org and the Celebrate Grafton Facebook page for the confirmed date and parade time before you plan around it.

Saturday, July 4: the main event, town by town

Cedarburg's 4th of July Hometown Celebration

Cedarburg's Fourth is the crown jewel — the Cedarburg Chamber calls it the largest hometown Independence Day celebration in southeastern Wisconsin, and on America's 250th birthday it should be at full wattage. The 2026 celebration is Saturday, July 4 throughout the Historic District.

The parade steps off at 10 a.m. from Firemen's Park and runs about two hours — this is not a 20-minute subdivision parade; it features award-winning Division 1 drum and bugle corps and draws crowds several rows deep along Washington Avenue. Claim your spot by 9 a.m. for shade and sightlines.

After the parade, the action moves to Cedar Creek Park for an all-day picnic with live music, food, kids' games, and a 5K run, and the day closes with fireworks at dusk launched from Adlai Horn Park. The pro move for families: bring a wagon, park once in the shuttle-friendly lots near Firemen's Park, and make a 12-hour day of it. Refuel between parade and fireworks with our guide to Cedarburg's best burgers. Full details at cedarburg.org.

Port Washington's Hometown Fourth on the lakefront

Port Washington celebrates with the county's only Lake Michigan Fourth: a morning parade through downtown, followed by a picnic in Veterans Park on the lakefront with a children's bike-decorating contest judged right after the parade, live music, a cake and ice cream sale, and bounce houses. In recent years the city has added a holiday pool party at the outdoor pool (games, contests, and discounted admission for kids in red, white, and blue or riding a decorated bike) plus a biggest-splash contest and family relay races in the afternoon. The day ends with fireworks at dusk over the marina — watching the shells reflect off the harbor with the breakwater lighthouse in silhouette is the most photogenic Fourth in the county. Parade start times have floated between 10 and 11 a.m. in recent years, so confirm 2026 details at portwashingtonchamber.com or the city's website before you go. Bring layers: the lakefront runs 10 degrees cooler after sunset, even in July.

Saukville's classic small-town Fourth

Saukville's celebration is confirmed for Saturday, July 4, 2026 on the village calendar, and it follows the formula that's worked for generations: festivities begin around noon at Grady Park with games, live music, and food (the Port Washington Masons pour beverages and Mel's Charities handles the grub in recent years), the parade steps off at 1 p.m. from Rebel's Field, heading north on South Main Street toward Grady Park, and at 5 p.m. the party shifts to Peninsula Park along the Milwaukee River for evening entertainment and fireworks at dusk. The 1 p.m. parade time is a gift for families with little kids — no pre-9-a.m. scramble — and the two-park rhythm gives you a natural midday break. Details at villageofsaukvillewi.gov.

The Freistadt Fourth

For something genuinely different, Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church of Freistadt at 10729 W. Freistadt Road in Mequon — home to one of Wisconsin's oldest Lutheran congregations, founded by Pomeranian settlers in 1839 — has traditionally hosted a Freistadt Fourth: an outdoor church service in the morning, followed by music, tours of the historic buildings, food, and a 1 p.m. neighborhood parade. It's small, deeply rooted, and feels like a Fourth of July from another century — fitting for the 250th. Confirm 2026 plans with the church before going.

Where to watch fireworks

If fireworks are your only priority, here's the honest comparison. Grafton's Lime Kiln Park show is the biggest in the county and the most dramatic setting, but its date floats — confirm before committing. The Mequon-Thiensville show on June 27 over the Milwaukee River is the best family package because of everything that precedes it. Cedarburg's Adlai Horn Park display on July 4 caps the county's best full-day celebration. Port Washington's harbor show is the most scenic. Saukville's Peninsula Park show is the easiest — smallest crowds, simplest parking, most relaxed exit. A determined family could see three different fireworks shows in eight days without leaving the county, and on America's 250th, that's not excessive — that's patriotism.

Practical notes for an Ozaukee Fourth

Arrive early for the parades — Cedarburg especially, where curbs fill by 9 a.m. and Washington Avenue closes to traffic. Bring cash for the nonprofit food stands (Lions, Legion, Rotary, and church groups run most of them, and card readers are hit-or-miss in a park). Pack the standard summer-festival kit: sunscreen, water bottles, a blanket and chairs for fireworks, and bug spray for the riverside parks at dusk — Village Park, Peninsula Park, and Lime Kiln Park all sit on water, and the mosquitoes know the schedule too. Leashed dogs are generally fine at parades but a bad idea at fireworks; leave pets home after 6 p.m. And everywhere, the exit is the worst part: at dusk shows, park facing your way out, or better yet walk or bike from downtown.

Keep the Ozaukee summer rolling

The Fourth is the midpoint of Ozaukee County's best stretch, not the end of it. Port Washington Fish Day — the world's largest one-day outdoor fish fry — lands on the third Saturday of July (July 18, 2026) with its own parade and lakefront fireworks. The Ozaukee County Fair, one of Wisconsin's last completely free county fairs, runs July 29–August 2, 2026 at Cedarburg's Firemen's Park with carnival rides, a demolition derby, and yes, more fireworks. Free outdoor concerts run all summer across the county, including Saukville's Live at the Triangle series at Veterans Park (alternating Wednesdays, 7–9 p.m., with July 8 and 22 dates). And if you'd rather spend the holiday up north, our guide to the Fourth of July in Door County covers six communities of staggered fireworks over the water. For everything else on the calendar, start with our complete guide to Milwaukee summer festivals.

Final thoughts: small towns, big birthday

The country turns 250 exactly once, and there are worse places to mark it than a county where the parade still runs two hours, the fireworks launch over 19th-century lime kilns, the corn roast is run by the Rotary, and the kids get free ice cream just for showing up. Pick a town — or pick three. Pack the wagon, claim the curb early, and stay for the fireworks.

Happy 250th, America. See you on the parade route.