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A guide to this week’s Fourth of July fireworks and parades

There are plenty of ways to celebrate Independence Day. Since the Fourth of July falls on a Wednesday this year, two weekends’ worth of festivities will be happening across the North Fork between June 30 and July 7. 

Here’s a rundown of the week’s Independence Day events.

Fireworks

• A fireworks display over Orient Harbor is set for Saturday, June 30, 2018 at 9:15 p.m. The fireworks will be visible from the causeway and along the shores surrounding Hallocks Bay.

• Riverhead Raceway, located at 1797 Old Country Road, will also host a fireworks display June 30 at 9 p.m. It coincides with the 68th annual NASCAR Night, which includes a four-cylinder demo and kids’ big wheel race.

• The Riverhead Business Improvement District’s annual Independence Day fireworks will be held on Thursday, July 5, along the Peconic Riverfront at 9:15 p.m., following the kickoff of the Alive on 25 Summer Street Festival, which will take place from 5 to 9:30 p.m. in downtown Riverhead. 

• The Greenport Fire Department carnival will once again feature a pair fireworks displays in honor of the holiday. They are scheduled Thursday, July 5 (rain date: July 6), and Saturday, July 7, at 10 p.m. The carnival runs from 6 to 11 p.m. Tuesday, July 3, through Saturday, July 7, at the Polo Grounds on Moores Lane. 

• A carnival fundraiser for Peconic Bay Medical Center on Route 25A in Wading River will offer fireworks Friday, July 6, at 10 p.m. The carnival itself runs from 6 to 11 p.m. Wednesday, July 4, through Saturday, July 7.

• Shelter Island’s 61st annual fireworks display, usually visible from parts of Southold, will take place Saturday, July 7, from 9 to 9:45 p.m. on Crescent Beach (rain date: July 8).

PARADES

• The New Suffolk Civic Association’s Fourth of July parade starts at 11 a.m. Wednesday, July 4, at the corner of Tuttle and New Suffolk roads. Hot dogs and apple pie will follow the parade at New Suffolk Beach.

• The Southold Village Merchants’ Fourth of July parade steps off at noon Wednesday, July 4. Children riding bicycles decorated in red, white and blue may line up on Hobart Road at 11:45 a.m. The parade route runs along Main Road from Boisseau Avenue to Tuckers Lane.

• The Oysterponds Historical Society is hosting its annual Heritage Day on Sunday, July 1. The parade starts at noon at the Civil War Monument on Village Lane in Orient and is followed by a reading of the Declaration of Independence at the Old Point Schoolhouse. Then there will be hot dogs, music and games at Poquatuck Park.