Holmes County marks America 250 with reverse parade and drone show

Holmes County’s America 250 celebration filled Harvest Ridge Fairgrounds in Millersburg with a reverse parade inside the Expo Center and a 300-drone show over the Holmes County Courthouse. The July 25 gathering turned the nation’s semiquincentennial into a distinctly local event, with the county’s best-known civic spaces serving as the backdrop.

The reverse parade ran from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. inside the Harvest Ridge Expo Center, giving residents a fixed indoor route instead of a traditional curbside lineup. Holmes County America250 and promotional posts from Mayor Kelly Hoffee directed people to Harvest Ridge Fairgrounds for the community celebration, while event listings steered attendees to the Expo Center for the parade portion.

That format suited a county where public gatherings often pull in families from Millersburg, Berlin, Walnut Creek and Holmesville. Instead of moving floats down a road, the reverse parade placed the display in one venue and let the public move through it at its own pace, a setup that fit Harvest Ridge’s indoor space and the county’s rural character. It also kept the celebration centered on local institutions rather than on a highway route.

The drone show gave the event its most visible modern feature. Promotional material called it Holmes County’s first-ever drone show, and Reuters Connect captions later described 300 preprogrammed drones lighting the sky above the fairgrounds and courthouse after dark. The aerial display paired high-tech staging with a patriotic county gathering that was built around familiar Holmes County pageantry.

America 250-Ohio’s statewide events calendar has been carrying semiquincentennial programming across Ohio, and Holmes County’s celebration fit that broader effort while still telling a local story. The county has already used major public gatherings to mark its own milestones: in 2024, Holmes County’s bicentennial drew a parade, vendors, bounce houses, a petting zoo, presentations and fireworks. The America 250 observance followed that pattern, using a countywide event to connect national history to the places residents know best.