There won’t be any shortage of patriotic fun this weekend. The Denton area has three fireworks displays planned and enough pageantry to stir up a season’s worth of national pride.

Denton stages its annual Fourth of July Jubilee, starting with its early-bird offering: the 11th annual Liberty 5K Run and 1-Mile Walk, which will get red-blooded hearts pumping at 7:30 a.m.

DRC/Gary Payne

Halley Dickson rides her bike in the parade during last year’s Fourth of July Jubilee in Denton.

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The Yankee Doodle Parade, which attracts hundreds to the Square for floats, decorated bikes and marching musicians with instruments, kicks the jubilee off at 9:30 a.m. The parade will end at Quakertown Park, 321 E. McKinney St., and so begins a day of lazy summer fun.

For the competitors among us, there’s a horseshoe tournament, a whipped cream eating contest and the Great Gutter Boat Race — a contest that has contestants nudge homemade boats down a rain gutter with their breath and a drinking straw.

Temperatures are expected to surpass 100 degrees, but the Denton Civic Center Pool is open with a special admission price of $1 on the Fourth of July. Loungers can listen to live music until noon.

Crowds really gather for fireworks displays, and locals can choose between the smallest of the area’s displays, at Freedomfest at Rancho De La Roca Retreat Ranch in Aubrey, or bigger displays like the Lake Cities Fourth of July Celebration in City Park or the Denton Noon Kiwanis Club Fireworks Show and Independence Day Celebration.

Tesh Beaty, coordinator of Freedomfest, said Rancho De La Roca, a retreat operated by Peace of the Rock Ministries, had about 100 people come to the inaugural Freedomfest nine years ago.

“Last year, we had about 1,100,” Beaty said. “A lot of people have told us that they like it that we’re small. It’s a more intimate celebration.”

Freedomfest opens at 5:30 p.m., and as soon as families arrive, they can take pedal boats and canoes out onto the nearby lake. Attendees are welcome to bring fishing gear, too. Children can play on bounce houses, makes crafts or ride a kiddie train. Sand volleyball courts will be open for players, too.

Concessions are for sale, but Beaty said people can bring coolers. No alcohol or dogs are allowed at the ranch.

The evening ends with a fireworks display.

“It’s definitely not the same scale as the Kiwanis show, but the fireworks are deployed over the lake, so you see the whole show reflected in the water,” Beaty said.

The Lake Cities are expecting a big Fourth of July Celebration this year. In addition to what city officials are calling the biggest fireworks display the city has ever had, the Lake Cities celebration has a bigger and better kids’ zone, said Brian Blenden, lead pastor of Crosspointe Community Church.

The church started the children’s activity area three years ago.

“We approached the city when we were just starting out,” Blenden said. “We really just wanted to do something, to love on the community. We asked them what we might do to be out there in the community.”

City officials mentioned the Fourth of July Celebration, and Blenden suggested bounce houses. It’s grown from there. The free kids’ zone is bigger than ever this year.

“We have partnered with the Lake Cities area to provide all the kid stuff for their annual celebration. We’ll have bounce houses, inflatable water slides, rock-climbing wall,” he said. “There will be wet things to keep the kiddos cool.”

Blenden said the church added a central tent this year. That way, parents can keep an eye on their children in the shade.

The kids’ zone will also have games and activities.

Blenden said church volunteers couldn’t deny the need for a free children’s area.

“Our best count last year? We had over 600 kids,” he said.

Denton Noon Kiwanis Club member Hank Dickenson, coordinator of the club’s celebration, said members will “make hay while the sun shines” during this year’s fireworks show and celebration.

“This is a big weekend for us,” Dickenson said. “This is on a Saturday night instead of being on a Tuesday or a weekday, so people are going to have family and friends in town.”

The club is expecting 50,000 to fill up the field and the west end of the University of North Texas’ Fouts Field stadium. Dickenson said that number doesn’t include the folks who line the streets and knolls in the nearby neighborhoods, though Kiwanis do send their “bucket brigades” out to ask for donations.

The annual celebration at Fouts Field is the biggest fireworks display in the area. But while the crowds are watching the exploding colors, Kiwanis club members are walking through the crowd with donation buckets. The event is the club’s major fundraiser for the Denton Kiwanis Club Children’s Clinic.

The clinic is a network of participating doctors and dentists who give care to Denton children whose families can’t afford it. The clinic screens applicants for eligibility, and refers the families to a participating doctor or dentist. This year, the clinic will provide care for nearly 625 children.

“For us, this event is a twofold attack,” Dickenson said. “What I really want to get across is how great our sponsors are. They help keep this a free event, and we all know that this is a tight year. This is something that anyone in the community can come out and enjoy. But it’s also a way for us to get more medical and dental care and prescriptions to local children.”

Every donation helps, Dickenson said.

“We hope that the people who come through the gates will find it in their hearts to give a little to our bucket brigade, because that next day, we count out the cash in the buckets and every penny goes that goes to the bucket brigade helps children get medical, dental and prescription coverage,” he said. “Some people throw a $100 bill in there, and other people throw in a few dollars. It all helps.”

LUCINDA BREEDING can be reached at 940-566-6877. Her e-mail address is cbreeding@dentonrc.com .

For more information, visit www.cityofdenton.com/pages/parks.cfm .

7:30 a.m. — 11th annual Liberty 5K Run and 1-Mile Walk, at North Lakes Recreation Center, 2001 W. Windsor Drive. Registration is $15 in advance, or $20 the day of the event. Family rates are available. Call 940-349-7275.

9 to 9:30 a.m. — Denton’s Yankee Doodle Parade will line up at the Wells Fargo parking lot at Hickory Street and Austin Street. The parade, starting at 9:30 a.m., will travel around the Square and finish at Quakertown Park. Late parade entries can register at 8 a.m. For more information, call 940-349-8575.

9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. — Fourth of July Jubilee festivities at the Denton Civic Center and Quakertown Park, including a flag ceremony, horseshoe tournament, children’s arts and crafts show, children’s carnival, children’s gutter boat racing and a whipped cream eating contest. Admission to the Denton Civic Center pool is $1. Call 940-349-8733 for the arts and crafts show or 940-349-7764 to sign up for gutter boat racing.

5:30 p.m. — Gates open for the Denton Kiwanis Club’s 37th annual Fireworks Extravaganza at UNT’s Fouts Field, 2178 N. Stemmons Freeway, on the west side of the stadium. There will be live music, games and bounce houses leading up to the fireworks display. The cost is free, but the Kiwanis Club will have a bucket brigade to collect donations for the Kiwanis Children’s Clinic.

6:30 to 7:30 p.m. — Music by Thad Bonduris and the Fun-Addix

7:45 to 8:15 p.m. — Music by Janny McClure

8:20 p.m. — Presentation of the colors by Boy Scout Troop 140 and national anthem sung by Janny McClure

8:25 to 8:35 p.m. — Kiwanis announcements and sponsor recognition

8:45 to 9:30 p.m. — Music by Thad Bonduris and the Fun-Addix

9:35 p.m. — Fireworks and patriotic music by Premier Pyrotechnics

When: 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday

Where: Lake Dallas City Park, 101 W. Hundley Drive.

Details: Free. For more information, visit www.lakedallas.com.

SCHEDULE

8 a.m. — Parade registration and lineup

9 a.m. — Parade starts and vendor booths open

10 a.m. — Patriotic presentation, veterans memorial

10:15 a.m. — Parade awards ceremony

10:30 a.m. — Bubbles Show with Linda Berman

11:45 a.m. — Jade Hudson on the main stage

1 p.m. — Announcement of apple pie bake-off winner

1 p.m. — Qunitessa on the main stage

1 to 2:30 p.m. — Apple pie bake-off pies for sale

2 to 5 p.m. — Kids’ zone break

2 to 2:30 p.m. — Putting contest

2:30 to 3 p.m. — Hula hoop contest

3 to 5 p.m. — Lake Cities Idol competition

3:30 to 4 p.m. — Watermelon eating contest; register at information booth

7 to 9 p.m. — Eleven Hundred Springs on the main stage

7:50 to 8:10 p.m. — Performance by the winner of Lake Cities Idol

9 p.m. — Recognition of sponsors; national anthem sung by Carol Ann Connors

9:15 p.m. — Fireworks Spectacular

Where: Rancho De La Roca Retreat Ranch, 2459 W. Blackjack Road in Aubrey

When: 5:30 to 10 p.m. Saturday. Fireworks begin at 9:15 p.m.

Details: Admission is $5 for adults. Children 3 and younger get in free. Proceeds benefit local and international missions. For more information, call 940-365-7625 or visit www.ranchoroca.com.

8 a.m. to 1 p.m. — Freedom Fest in Sanger, including a race/walk at 8 a.m., flag-raising at 9 a.m., a balloon release at 9:05 a.m. and a parade starting at 9:10 a.m. An apple pie baking contest will start at 10 a.m., followed by a three-legged sack race at 10:20 a.m., a watermelon seed spitting contest at 10:50 a.m., an egg toss at 11 a.m., judging of the sidewalk art contest at 11:15 a.m., and the Sanger Fire Department’s fish fry from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. For more information, call 940-458-4931.

9:30 a.m. — Fourth of July Parade in Double Oak. Lineup is at Simmons and Oak Trail; the route continues down Cross Timbers and ends at fire station’s picnic and fun fest. Visit www.dovfd.org.

10 a.m. — Fourth of July Parade in Copper Canyon. Lineup starts at 9:15 a.m., and the parade ends at Town Hall with hot dogs and drinks. Call 940-241-1455.

10 a.m. to 1 p.m. — Fourth of July Parade in Oak Point. Lineup begins at 9:30 a.m. at Martop and Naylor roads; the route continues down Naylor and ends at Jake’s Place Park with barbecue picnic and fun fest. Volunteers are still needed. Call 972-294-2312.

11 a.m. to 4 p.m. — American Legion Post 71 will host a cookout at 2501 Spencer Road. Barbecue briskets, hamburgers and hot dogs, and drinks, will be available. Cost is $8 for adults and $4 for children. Call Don L. Long at 940-595-0979.