Photos: Crowds celebrate July 4th at Anchorage’s parade and festival

The celebration included a parade featuring fire trucks, princesses, invisible dogs, horses, dance and cultural groups and antique vehicles.

By Anne Raup
Updated: 2 hours ago Published: 2 hours ago

Members of the Okamoto's School of Karate pose for bystanders while waiting for the start of the July 4th parade in Anchorage. (Anne Raup / ADN)

Anchorage’s Delaney Park Strip and the streets surrounding it filled with people looking to celebrate Independence Day on Thursday. A pancake breakfast brought people in early followed by a program and the annual July 4 parade. Neighborhood street parking was tight and traffic sometimes gridlocked.

The parade, with fire trucks, princesses, invisible dogs, horses, dance and cultural groups and antique vehicles, circled the Park Strip for over an hour. The festival went on throughout the day with food trucks and vendors.

From left: Christa Carroll, 8, Mason Karasti, 6, Haley Karasti, 3 and Ethan Karasti, 8 watch the Anchorage July 4th parade on Thursday. (Anne Raup / ADN)

Antique vehicles reflect in the wheel of Nat Gardner's 1956 Ford F-100. (Anne Raup / ADN)

People wave flags during the July 4th parade on Thursday morning. (Anne Raup / ADN)

Alaska Fire and Police Chaplains' chief chaplain Diane Peterson signals to begin the Anchorage July 4th parade on Thursday morning. (Anne Raup / ADN)

Shirley Alexander enjoys a mystery novel while waiting for the parade. Alexander makes the trip every year from Conroe, Texas, to participate in the parade with her daughter, Gwyn Wiedmer. (Anne Raup / ADN)

Harbor Groomes, 9, and Ayah Effraim, 2 1/2, work on chalk art. (Anne Raup / ADN)

Nat Gardner takes in a little sunshine while waiting for the parade to begin. She restored her 1956 Ford F-100, which she has owned for almost 20 years. (Anne Raup / ADN)

Members of the Tama Fanua A Nuuuli / Alaska group dance through the 4th of July parade route on Thursday. (Anne Raup / ADN)

Ghirard Bugarin, 6, sporting a Spiderman backpack (because it's red, white and blue) takes a tour through the flags on the Delaney Park Strip during the 2024 Anchorage July 4th festival. The flags were installed by the Rotary Club and was a fundraiser for charities. (Anne Raup / ADN)

A pirate float makes the rounds during the Anchorage July 4th parade on Thursday. (Anne Raup / ADN)

A group of crown-wearing young women gather before the 4th of July parade begins in Anchorage. (Anne Raup / ADN)

A young person's arm holds a flag out the window of an Anchorage Fire Department truck at the Anchorage July 4th parade. (Anne Raup / ADN)

Alaska Fire and Police chaplain Margaret Griffo salutes during the national anthem before the 4th of July Parade on Thursday. (Anne Raup / ADN)

One of several crowned people in the parade rides atop a car during the Anchorage July 4th parade and festival at the Delaney Park Strip. (Anne Raup / ADN)

People wave flags from an antique car during the Anchorage July 4th parade which made a loop around the Delaney Park Strip. (Anne Raup / ADN)

Anne Raup

Multimedia editor Anne Raup has been with ADN for 26 years, both as a staff shooter and an editor.

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