4th of July Parade to Reverse Course, Travel from North to South

If the world does indeed end later this year, at least residents will know what it was like to see the 4th of July parade reverse its route.

Instead of heading north down Main Street like most years, this year it will head south down Main, stepping off at Main and Grant at 12:45 p.m. and ending at Main and Warren.

Mary Scalzetti, emergency management coordinator and event planner, said the village has been talking about wanting to reverse the direction of the parade for a few years and that it would be nice to tie it into another event, but until this year, that other event didn't exist.

Now it does. The Downers Grove Junior Woman's Club will host a free concert performance by the band 'Hindsight' at immediately following the parade at 2:30 p.m. Food and refreshments will be available for purchase during the concert and there will be face painting for the kids.

The festivities won't end with the concert, either. At 9:30 p.m. there will be a fireworks display presented by the Village of Downers Grove and the Village of Woodridge at Zigfield Troy Golf, 75th and Lemont Road.

With the ongoing 75th Street construction traffic may be a mess, and Scalzetti is strongly encouraging people either carpool, walk or ride their bikes over to the show. And if all else fails, look up.