Suburban July Fourth celebrations include parades, big fireworks show

Southwest suburban Palos Heights held its annual Fourth of July parade on Thursday, following several other Independence Day events Wednesday night.

This parade down Harlem Avenue brought out the entire community, with kids, parents, and grandparents lining both sides of the street.

All of them came out to enjoy the holiday, and many were decked out in red, white, and blue.

Firefighters led the parade with trucks and sirens. Some of the first-timers of the parade had to wear headphones to handle the noise.

Kids came with goodie bags, and the firefighters came with candy to fill them, and some brought water guns to keep the crowd cool after the rain.

For many families, the parade is an annual tradition.

"Every year. We come every year. It is so fun. There's so much candy. The kids have a blast. It's the best time. We come all the time," Crystale Wilcox said.

The parade is the finale for the Independence Day celebration in Palos Heights, which also hosted a fireworks display and other festivities on Wednesday.

"It's just a good community event. It brings everybody out together. It brings families together to celebrate a special day for America. So we love it," Miranda Kowalski said of the parade.

People at the parade said afterward they planned to head to the swimming pool and fire up the grills to finish out their celebrations.

"It's going to be as large as it is high"

The Village of Itasca has a population of only 10,000, but for its annual Fourth of July celebration, between 20,000 and 30,000 people were expected to show up on Thursday.

The village claimed to have one of the biggest fireworks displays in the state and gave CBS News Chicago a look behind the scenes.

"We're talking about five to 6,000 pounds of material here," said Matt Peterson, the director of design for the show. "It is a lot. It's going to be as large as it is high in the sky."

The planning took months and the set up took three days. But the show promised to be worth the wait.

"Good music, beautiful people, what else can you ask for?" said spectator Vito Dibiazza. "Every year it just gets better."