At Bristol’s Fourth of July parade, camaraderie, patriotism keep bringing people together

BRISTOL – This town's historic Fourth of July parade is a spectacle of color and sound. Green sequined hats flash in the sunlight and red, white and blue flags wave in the air. Meanwhile, muskets boom, fifes whistle their shrilly melodies and drums beat rhythmically along.

“It’s electrifying,” said Jillian Gesualdi, artistic director of East End Theatre & Performing Arts, in East Providence, as she, along with some 40 students and family members, waited to get in the parade’s queue Thursday morning.

The annual extravaganza – billed as the oldest continuous Independence Day celebration in the nation – is part of the fabric of life in Bristol. It is unclear exactly when the parade began. Rev. Henry Wight of the First Congregational Church conducted the first patriotic exercises in 1785, which led to a regular annual celebration in the early 1800s, according to the parade’s website.

For some residents, like Jacqueline Brown, who has attended the parade since she moved to town in 1956, it is integral to her identity as a Bristolian.

For others, like five-week-old Gabriella Morra, it is just the beginning of what may become a lifelong ritual.

Gabriella’s father, Brett Morra, a Bristol native, is committed to keeping the tradition alive in the family. He arrived at 4 a.m. to reserve a prime spot in front of the post office – though according to the parade’s website, attendees are not allowed to set up before 5 a.m.

Morra said that for residents of Bristol, the whole year builds up to the last two weeks of June – when the town puts on a series of events and concerts – and culminates in the parade on July 4th.

He has missed the parade only once in the last 36 years, for a work trip to the Bahamas, which some may argue is a fair trade. But Morra wouldn’t miss it otherwise.

“Being here is just community. Everybody I know, everybody I love, everybody circles back here for the Fourth. We all have a great time,” Morra said.

Community is a recurring theme. Bristolian Derek Olson, who reckons he's attended the parade for 50 years, jests that his wife forces him to attend. Yet it is unlikely anyone forced him to arrive at 5 a.m. to get a spot along the parade route. Olson, along friends Dylan Levesque and Mike Silva, acknowledge it is family and community that keep them coming back.

For some, the parade is bit of a homecoming. Tara Padula, of Warwick, had not attended since she was 7 years old. This year she brought her 13-year-old daughter, Violet, and it will likely not be their last visit.

“We’re both percussionists, so we were thinking maybe in a few years we’ll join a group,” Padula said.

It was also Roger Desjardins’ first Fourth of July parade in Bristol. The 99-year-old decorated war veteran, born in Cumberland and now living in North Providence, is no stranger to such events. He was the grand marshal at last year’s Memorial Day parade in North Providence. But Bristol’s celebration was a bucket list item for him. He said his favorite part was making friends with other veterans.

That mix of patriotism and camaraderie is among the draws of Bristol’s Independence Day parade. The event has changed over the years – some think it has gotten smaller, while others say it only has gotten better. But none argue that it lacks spirit.

Brothers Chris and Charlie Pike have participated in the parade since 2012 as part of the Bristol County Fifes and Drums. Chris, a drummer studying industrial engineering at Northeastern University in Boston, and Charlie, a flutist who lives in Burlington, Vt., estimated they play every year in about 20 parades in the United States and other countries, including Ireland, but few compare to Bristol.

“Most of them, you're only going down the street and maybe cows are watching you, but that's about it,” Charlie Pike said.

Bristol, however, is brimming with energy from people ready to celebrate a national holiday that manages to bring them together every year.

“The crowds are second to none,” Chris Pike said.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: At Bristol’s Fourth of July parade, camaraderie, patriotism keep bringing people together