independence day 2022

Houston's best 4th of July celebrations, from carnivals and concerts to fireworks and flag-waving fun

Freedom Over Texas is a six-hour celebration.

Photo courtesy of Freedom Over Texas

Fourth of July in Houston this year sees classics such as the Shell Freedom Over Texas six-hour bash return, while Galveston launches new tech-centered celebrations with drones.

Patriotic fans can expect fireworks, parades, carnivals, concerts, and more all over the Greater Houston area.

Enjoy, and stay safe and hydrated as we celebrate the birth of our great nation.

Forest Cove Community Center will have its 53rd Annual Fourth of July Celebration, and the theme is "Freedom, Fun and Family." The parade will start at 10 am, and BBQ will be served at noon. There will also be live music, a dessert contest, and a horseshoe tournament. 9 am.

Kingwood Civic Club will have its annual 4th of July Parade. Float judging will serve as the opening act for the parade, which will kick off at 10 am from Creekwood Middle School on Sandy Forks. The parade will end when all participants reach Kingwood High School. 9 am.

Riata Ranch Park in Cypress will bring back the annual 4th of July Bike Parade, as well as hosting a Cars & Coffee event for the Riata Ranch community. All years, makes and models welcome. No politics, drama, or burnouts. 9 am.

The Woodlands will present a variety of events to celebrate Independence Day, including the South County Fourth of July Parade, Red, Hot & Pool events, and the 25th Annual Red, Hot & Blue Festival and Fireworks Extravaganza. It culminates with one of the largest fireworks displays in the area at 9:30 pm. 9 am.

The City of Bellaire's Celebration of Independence Parade & Festival will feature the main parade, starting at South Rice Ave. and Valerie St., and the Children's Bike Parade, starting at South Rice Ave. and Evergreen St. The parades are followed by the festival at 10 am, featuring food, music from a live band and more. 9:30 am.

Speaking of Bellaire, , the Southwest Management District invites the community to its free, family-friendly LibertyFest from 1 to 9 pm Sunday, July 3 at PlazAmericas mall (7500 Bellaire Blvd.). A fireworks display will be the final attraction of a day featuring on-stage entertainment by musicians, dancers, fashion models, and much more. Look for diverse bites, She Wolf (the Shakira cover act), HPD's mounted patrol, and more.

B.B. Lemon will have a patriotic brunch featuring tunes by DJ Mohawk Steve. Guests can also attend dinner service starting at 3 pm. and enjoy a great view of downtown Houston’s fireworks display from the B&B Butchers parking lot across the street. 11 am.

Lagoonfest Texas will be action-packed, Fourth of July Freedom Fest, with a wave of circus acts who have performed around the world and tribute-band concerts. The concerts will begin at 4 pm, featuring Motley Krue, Poison I.V. and Von Hindenburg. 11 am.

The Rustic is partnering with local breweries to support veterans and collect donations for The Lone Survivor Foundation. Local breweries will donate beer to build the Rustic's "beer can flag." You pick a beer and make a donation. 11 am.

Bobcat Teddy's Ice House will have its holiday Monday party again, with live music by Chris Goodwin and complimentary hot dogs and burgers for all customers (while supplies last). After the celebration, you're only a short Uber drive (or bike ride) to the fireworks display. Noon.

B&B Butchers will be open for dinner service. Guests can enjoy the regular dinner menu plus the TX Wagyu Hot Dog Special – two quarter-pound pound dogs with steak fries and all the toppings for $18. End the evening with a view of the downtown Houston fireworks show from the parking lot. 4 pm.

Missouri City’s Independence Day Festival offers plenty of fun and excitement for the whole family. Attendees can enjoy a variety of free entertainment, carnival games, live musical performances, tasty treats from local vendors, and close out the evening with an amazing fireworks display. 4 pm.

Shell Freedom Over Texas will return to an in-person event filled with six hours of festivities, tradition and live concert stages. There will be performances by Sawyer Brown, Clay Walker, Blanco Brown and others. It will be capped off with a musically choreographed, “Texas-sized” fireworks finale. 4 pm.

The City of Jersey Village will get its America on with its very own 4th of July Parade. Come out and cheer on the parade or stick around for the music (featuring Beatles cover band The Fab 5) and food at Clark Henry Park afterwards. 5:30 pm.

The City of Sugar Land will celebrate Independence Day with patriotic family fun and activities for all ages. There will be a variety of food and beverages, live musical entertainment, community booths, activities, photo opportunities and a dazzling firework display to conclude the celebration. 6 pm.

Over at Buffalo Bayou Brewing Company's Fourth of July party, each ticket secures third-floor rooftop access to watch the fireworks show and enjoy your brews or frozens in your very own color-changing, BuffBrew 4th of July stadium cup. All tasty food, good brews and frozens will be available to purchase a la carte. 7 pm.

CITYCENTRE will have its Independence Day Fireworks Spectacular, where there will be plenty of food, fireworks, and freedom. A 10-minute fireworks display will illuminate the night sky at 9:30 pm. 7 pm.

POST Houston will celebrate the Fourth with the Houston Brass Band on the largest rooftop park in America. The five-acre Skylawn rooftop is the perfect location to view the Downtown fireworks display and experience the band's patriotic sounds. 7:30 pm.

Galveston Island will have a one-of-a-kind drone show. Hundreds of drones will launch right from the beach at the 37th Street Groin (the same location the July 4th celebrations have been hosted in years past.) 9 and 10:30 pm.

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Movie Review

Cookie Queens goes behind the scenes of Girl Scout Cookie season

Photo courtesy of Roadside Attractions

Girl Scouts in Cookie Queens.

Few people are strong enough to resist the lure of Girl Scout cookie season every year, with the cookies’ limited availability and unique flavors a strong incentive to indulge. But only the girls and their families who have sold the cookies know the joys and stresses of trying to get people to buy them, a process that is detailed in the new documentary, Cookie Queens.

The film by documentarian Alysa Nahmias uses the stories of four different girls to represent the nationwide ritual for the Girl Scouts. They include 12-year-old Olive in Charlotte, North Carolina, a longtime top seller; 8-year-old Shannon Elizabeth in El Paso, Texas, who wants to earn the reward of going to camp; 5-year-old Ara in San Diego, California, whose goal is modest compared to most other girls; and 9-year-old Nikki in Chino, California, who has to compete with her older sisters in the cookie-selling bonanza.

The girls represent a cross-section of both ages and backgrounds, with some girls coming from wealthy families and some girls dealing with more limited means. And how much money your family has makes a big difference, as not only does someone richer have more freedom with their time and supplies, but all scouts are required to reimburse the organization for every box they take in, regardless of whether they’re able to sell it or not.

That caveat makes the journeys of the four featured girls feel wildly different. It’s clear from the start that Olive and Nikki’s families don’t give a second thought to the personal economics of selling cookies, with each girl taking in thousands of boxes at the beginning of the six-week selling season. With both Olive and Nikki rightfully confident that they’ll have no problem offloading their supply, their stories turn to how selling is personally affecting them, with each trying to reconcile the fun of doing it with the pressure they feel from their family members.

Shannon Elizabeth’s story is more harrowing, as her parents feel a strong desire to help her accomplish her lofty goal, but worry that the cost might literally be too high for the family as a whole. More than once, the parents are shown fretting that they won’t have the money to pay back what they owe should they fall significantly short in their sales. Their selling approach, which includes walking through an empty swap meet and standing outside a chain restaurant at night, only adds to their stress.

The most fun story to watch is that of Ara, whose innocence is matched by her confidence. Her parents teach her how much money they’ll owe with her small goal of 55 boxes, but right away she takes on more responsibility than expected. She’s shown making sales pitches and tallying the total number of boxes she’s sold with little-to-no help from either her mom or dad. With her high voice, glasses, and a monitor on her arm to manage her diabetes, she becomes the cute and sympathetic part of the film.

There are times that the film starts to feel more than a little manipulative, however. While many of the moments documented come off as organic, some of them seem like Nahmias is actively guiding the participants in order to get a better story. This is especially evident with Shannon Elizabeth and her family, whose early struggles turn into a miraculous feel-good story by the end, a turnaround that seems implausible at best. Everything with them might have been aboveboard, but Nahmias and her team edit the family’s journey in a way that pushes a bit too hard for emotion.

Cookie Queens, which was produced by a company owned by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, helps to give insight into the business of selling Girl Scout cookies for those who’ve only been on the purchasing end of the transaction. The dedication of each girl toward selling their allotted supply proves fun and interesting, even if the filmmaker tries to gild the lily on occasion.

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Cookie Queens is now playing in theaters,

movies girl scout cookie film