Bristol Fourth of July Parade

History

The annual official and historic celebrations (Patriotic Exercises) were established in 1785 by Rev. Henry Wight of the First Congregational Church and veteran of the Revolutionary War, and later by Rev. Wight as the Parade, and continue today, organized by the Bristol Fourth of July Committee. The festivities officially start on June 14, Flag Day, beginning a period of outdoor concerts, soap-box races and a firefighters' muster at Independence Park. The celebration climaxes on July 4 with the oldest annual parade in the United States, "The Military, Civic and Firemen's Parade", an event that draws over 200,000 people from Rhode Island and around the world. These elaborate celebrations give Bristol its nickname, "America's most patriotic town". In 1785 the Bristol Fourth of July Celebration (beginning as the Patriotic Exercises) was founded and the Fourth of July has been celebrated every year in Bristol since that date, although the parade itself was canceled several times.

Buddy Cianci and the parade

Buddy Cianci, Providence's longest-serving mayor, had a long and controversial history with the Bristol parade. In the 1970's, parade rules stipulated that only elected federal, state, and Bristol town officials were invited to participate; mayors of Providence were not invited. In spite of this, Providence mayor Buddy Cianci marched in the parade every year after his 1975 election, in violation of the rules, until parade organizers sent a letter censuring him after the 1979 parade. The Bristol Town Council explicitly voted to ban Cianci from the 1980 parade, a year in which Cianci was running for governor against J. Joseph Garrahy, who, as sitting governor, was welcome to march. The Bristol police chief vowed to arrest anyone who caused a disturbance. A record 300,000 spectators showed up for the 1980 parade, waiting to see what would happen. In the end, when Cianci's helicopter touched down at Colt High School, officials backed down in the face of overwhelming crowd support for Cianci; he received bigger cheers than any other guest that day.

In 1984, after pleading "no contest" to a charge of assault, Cianci skipped the parade; a clown dressed in a prison uniform, carrying a ball and chain, mocked him in his absence. In 1991, Cianci caused some controversy by marching in front of the parade marshal, which prompted the parade chairman to comment, "Cianci is rude and he doesn't deserve to be invited back." In 1997 and 1998, Cianci marched with a "small army" of police, including police rescue boats on trailers, a bicycle patrol, and police officers squirting spectators with water rifles. This proved too much for the parade subcommittee, who unanimously dis-invited Cianci from the 1999 parade. Cianci skipped 1999, but returned in 2000 to shouting and cheers, despite having been indicted this time on federal corruption charges. Cianci's last appearance as sitting mayor was in 2002, after his conviction. Instead of riding his usual horse, Cianci walked this time, and he was frequently stopped by fans along the route to take photos and to shake his hand.

In 2003, new Providence Mayor David Cicilline marched in the parade, accompanied by a more modest contingent than his predecessor.

2009 Rhode Island Tea Party incident

The Rhode Island Tea-Party Association applied to enter the parade with a float featuring a representation of the British ship Beaver, which was ransacked by colonists dressed as Native Americans in 1773 at the Boston Tea Party. Staffing the float was Helen Glover, a radio personality from Providence, RI–based WHJJ 920 AM.

The Bristol Fourth of July Committee ejected the Rhode Island Tea-Party Association float from the 2009 parade and permanently banned them from all future parades for distributing pocket copies of the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights along the parade route. Such handouts are prohibited at the Parade on the grounds that people (especially children) running up to floats to get them pose a danger.

An estimated 50,000 people attended the parade in 2015.

2016 route change controversy

In early January 2016, the Bristol Fourth of July Committee voted to shorten the parade route from 2.4 miles to just under two miles, in order to clear roads to make it easier for first responders to react in the event of an emergency. Another reason given was that a longtime drum corps threatened to drop out because the route was too long. The revised route would begin with the 231st parade in July 2016, and was said to be a return back to the "traditional parade route." After an outcry from the public and a complaint to the Rhode Island Attorney General, the committee voted one week later to restore the longer route.

Celebration traditions