Oak Harbor plans full Independence Day celebration at Windjammer Park
Windjammer Park will host two days of vendors, rides, a parade and 10 p.m. fireworks, turning Oak Harbor’s Fourth into a weekend-long downtown draw.
Oak Harbor will spread its Independence Day celebration across Windjammer Park and the downtown corridor, with a parade at 11 a.m. on July 4, a vendor fair running from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on July 4 and July 5, and fireworks set for 10 p.m. July 4. The Chamber’s holiday lineup also includes carnival rides July 3 through July 6, a street festival July 4 through July 6, live entertainment, a beer garden and community activities, making the park the hub of the city’s summer calendar.
The vendor fair is built around handmade goods, antiques and specialty items, and the Chamber’s application sets a strict operating window: vendors and merchants must be set up and present from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on both days. Staging begins the morning of July 4, overnight security is provided July 3 and July 4, and applicants must carry insurance naming the Greater Oak Harbor Chamber of Commerce and the City of Oak Harbor as additionally insured.
The parade is being handled with a defined planning schedule. Applications were due June 5, approved applicants were to be announced and invoiced June 10, scripts were due June 21, and parade instructions and lineup were to be announced June 28. The city calendar places the 11 a.m. parade along the Midway-Bayshore corridor, a route that will push foot traffic into the heart of Oak Harbor before the evening crowds move back toward Windjammer Park.
That crowd management matters because the Fourth has become a multi-day civic ritual, not a one-night fireworks stop. Past celebrations used free shuttles to move visitors, a sign of how much traffic the holiday can generate on Whidbey Island. The event also carries a safety record that officials remember: in 2024, Mayor Ronnie Wright shut down the carnival for the rest of the weekend after a ride incident, while the parade and fireworks continued.
The 2026 celebration lands during the 250th anniversary year of the United States, giving this year’s holiday extra attention as a community event for residents, visitors and military families across Whidbey Island. For Oak Harbor, the strongest draws will be the 11 a.m. parade, the two-day vendor fair and the 10 p.m. fireworks, all concentrated at Windjammer Park.
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