###

Look, it’s a strange and uneasy time in America. A bipartisan House select committee keeps dropping bombshells about the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol; the Supreme Court just issued a series of momentous decisions that reshaped the country; and our ongoing epidemic of gun violence continues unabated — the latest incident being a mass shooting at a Fourth of July parade in Chicago Highland Park, Illinois, that left at least six people dead and two dozen others hospitalized. Tumultuous times!

But it’ll take a lot more than that to dampen the spirits or dim the patriotism of the hundreds who gathered in Eureka’s Old Town for the city’s annual Fourth of July festivities Monday. The jubilant crowd, clad in a wide variety of star-spangled garb, celebrated America’s 246th birthday with live music, hot food, kids activities and vendors galore.

Get a flavor of the event in the video above. The festival continues until 5 p.m., and there’s a fireworks show over Humboldt Bay scheduled for 10 p.m.