Hastings will celebrate Independence Day with an evening built around two hometown favorites, a Fourth of July parade and fireworks over Hastings Golf Club.

The 2026 Fourth of July celebration in Hastings, Minnesota, is scheduled for Saturday, July 4, with Hastings Golf Club and Events again putting on the parade and hosting the evening activities at Hastings Golf Club and Public House. The event follows a familiar format from 2025, when the celebration centered on the parade, food, music and fireworks, giving residents a chance to gather for a classic summer holiday night.

The parade will begin at 7 p.m. and will run eastbound on 15th Street West from General Sieben Drive to Westview Drive. Organizers note that the parade is strictly limited to 15th Street West between those two roads. Parade staging will take place at the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church parking lot.

After the parade, the celebration shifts to Hastings Golf Club and Public House, where food, drinks and live music are scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. Fireworks are scheduled for 10 p.m. at Hastings Golf Club, with Vermillion State Bank again sponsoring the fireworks.

The schedule gives families a simple plan for the evening, find a spot along 15th Street West for the parade, then head toward Hastings Golf Club and Public House for the rest of the night. For those who attended in 2025, the 2026 celebration should feel familiar. Last year’s event centered on the same combination of parade, music, food and fireworks, giving people a chance to spend the evening close to home without needing to travel across the metro for a holiday celebration.

That hometown feel is part of the draw. The parade provides a chance for local groups, families and residents to be part of the celebration, either from the route or from the curb. The fireworks then give the evening a big finish, lighting up the sky from the golf club area after a few hours of music, food and visiting.

Hastings Golf Club and Events is also offering VIP seating for the fireworks this year. Bidding opened ahead of the holiday for five indoor tables and five outdoor tables on July 4. The tables are available from 6 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., and each table can seat up to eight people. Food and drinks will be available for purchase during the event.

Bidding for the VIP tables ends at 6 p.m. July 2. Proceeds from the VIP seating benefit United Heroes League.

While the parade and fireworks are the main attractions, the Fourth of July holiday also falls during a busy stretch of summer activity in Hastings. Local sports, including amateur baseball, are part of the broader holiday week atmosphere. The Hastings Hawks, Hastings Hurricanes and American Legion Post 47 baseball teams often help fill summer evenings around the holiday, giving residents another way to enjoy the season before and after the Fourth.

The Legion team has a double header on July 2 at Veterans Park starting at 5 p.m. and the Hawks kick off the festivities on the Fourth with a trip 25 minutes south to John Burch Park in Cannon Falls to take on the Bears at 2:00 p.m.

The main event, however, remains Saturday night’s parade and fireworks. The route along 15th Street West gives residents a defined place to gather, while Hastings Golf Club and Public House serves as the hub for the post-parade celebration. With live music, food, drinks and fireworks all in one evening, the event is set up as a full community celebration.

Those planning to attend should pay close attention to the parade route and staging area. The first few years, the parade did spill onto Westview Drive and this year that will not be allowed. The start of the parade at General Sieben and 15^th Street has been the most sparsely populated space along the parade route the last few years, so people should consider settling in to watch the parade on that end of the route.

Traffic and parking near 15th Street West, General Sieben Drive, Westview Drive and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church will be affected before and during the parade. For those trying to navigate from one side of Hastings to the other, the advice is to avoid that area, if possible, even though the intersections will be monitored by Hastings Police and they will allow traffic through periodically. Parade participants should follow organizer instructions for staging and lineup.

The 2026 schedule begins with the Hawks game in Cannon Falls at 2 p.m. then transitions to the parade at 7 p.m., followed by live music, food and drinks at Hastings Golf Club and Public House at 8 p.m. Fireworks are scheduled for 10 p.m.

Where to watch the fireworks? The Hastings Golf Club has the front row action, and the space does fill up quickly, but offers the best view of the show. Good alternatives if you are not able to get to the club are parks around the area. Dakota Hills Park and Pleasant Park on the west side should offer a solid viewing option. Wallin Park might even fit the bill on that side of town. On the east side of the golf course, Pioneer Park is your best bet, but you will miss some of the lower height fireworks. Another spot that seems to work well is 19^th Street West off of Pine Street and along Louis Lane near the ponding basin. Just remember, bring a flashlight, plenty of bug spray and be courteous to both the homes in the area and your fellow fireworks watchers.