Independence Day in the Bay

The 27th annual Whitefish Bay 4th of July Parade steps off at 11:30am on Silver Spring Drive at Kent Avenue. The parade then continues east to Lake Drive, then north to Klode Park. The lineup includes the UW Band, Bucky Badger, Milwaukee Bucks mascot Bango, Irish dancers, bagpipers and the Wacky Wheeler.

The grand marshal of the parade, Whitefish Bay High School principal Bill Henkle, will lead over 60 entries in the parade. The parade will last a little over an hour.

At , a flag-raising ceremony will be held at 1 p.m., and then it's on to the wide variety of kid's games, live music entertainment and plenty of quality food vendors, including Red Truck Sliders, Jack Pandl's Whitefish Bay Inn, Saz's, Jake's Corned Beef, Stone Cold Creamery and the Civic Foundation's soda and beer tent.

Kids games last from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., including a face painting tent, mini bowling, a fishing game, bean bag toss, a lollipop pull game, an octopus ring toss game and more. The tennis courts will be converted to a sports area with a basketball game, a football throwing game and a miniature golf course.

Here's the lineup for the music stage:

12:30 p.m. to 2:15 p.m.: 5 Card Studs

2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.: Stray Voltage

4:30 p.m.to 6:30 p.m.: Southbound

7 p.m. to 9:15 p.m.: Pink Houses

At dusk, you'll want to stake out your spot with a blanket and enjoy the fireworks show, which is sponsored by .