Fort Phoenix Independence Day program is Saturday, July 4

For the nineteenth year, an Independence Day program will be sponsored by the Fairhaven Office of Tourism on Saturday, July 4, 2015, at 10:00 a.m. at historical Fort Phoenix. The program, which includes the firing of the fort’s five cannons, will take place following a Classic Car Cruise which starts at Fairhaven High School at 9:00, after the raising of the “Big Flag.”

The Fort Phoenix program will feature performances of patriotic songs by the Showstoppers, under the direction of Kelly Zucco. A brief history of the fort will be presented by Fairhaven Director of Tourism Christopher Richard, followed by a reading of excerpts from the Declaration of Independence. The flag will be raised to the singing of The Star Spangled Banner. Then the Fairhaven Village Militia will load and fire the fort’s five Civil War cannons over the harbor.

The Independence Day program was begun in 1997 by the Office of Tourism. That year Earl Faunce and Wayne Oliveira fired the Fort Phoenix cannons for the first time in many years. The patriotic ceremony, now co-sponsored by the Fairhaven Village Militia, has been a popular annual event ever since.

For more information, contact the Fairhaven Office of Tourism at 508-979-4085 or email FairhavenTours@aol.com. The office is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday from 8:00 a.m. to noon and 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. and Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to noon.