The Fourth of July signals the return of the Festival of the Bells and this year is no different. This year’s event is headlined by country music performers Shane Profitt and Tyler Braden on Friday and Saturday night, respectively, but that isn’t the only event.

Tiffany McCoy, co-chair of the Festival of the Bells, said the festival, which begins with an opening ceremony at 4 p.m. on July 4 and runs through Saturday night, July 6, will include a completely new event. She said that was a queen’s contest and the deadline to enter it is on Wednesday, June 5. She also said that if people are interested in applying to be a part of it, they need to contact the event organizers by emailing at [email protected].

For other events, McCoy said that the opening day parade, which has traditionally been held on Thursday evening has been moved to noon on Saturday “in hopes that more people can attend.”

She said a 5K run/walk at 8 a.m. Saturday morning as well as a three-on-three basketball tournament at 9:30 a.m. Saturday and cornhole tournament at 4 p.m. Saturday will return as well. Despite the need to sign up through the email for the queen’s contest, McCoy said these events’ sign-ups will happen on the day of the event. She said that if people have questions, they can still email the above address.

In terms of improvements, McCoy said that organizers decided to add more entertainment to the 2024 version, which includes the main headliners of Profitt and Braden. Some of those additional performers include Riley Clemmons and Blue Steel.

Clemmons will be the featured Christian music act on Thursday evening sponsored by local churches and Christian businesses.

“So, just trying to bring in more entertainment, more things going on to keep people there and to make it more enjoyable and that kind of thing,” McCoy said.

She said some of the events she is most excited about are the performers, but also that the three-on-three basketball tournament is “always really, really exciting” and “really well-attended.”

She said that she was “a little bit more” excited about this year’s 5K because a new group was brought in to run it. She said the new group made some improvements to the finish line and just made it “more enjoyable and more fun.”

Besides the events, McCoy wanted to remind people about all of the vendors that will be set up at the Festival of the Bells.

“It’s kind of crunch time with it being about a month away, but we are excited,” McCoy said. “We’re excited about some of the changes that have been made. We think that the way that they’ve been changed and the things that have been implemented are going to be really good and hope to produce a really good festival for the community.”

The full festival schedule has not been released.

Reach Jacob Clary at 937-402-2570.