Celebrate Kirkland is returning to the downtown for the 18th year, and organizers are calling for volunteers to help them make sure the event is fun for all.

“It’s on a Tuesday this year, which makes it a tricky day … but it doesn’t change the need,” Celebrate Kirkland organizer Penny Sweet said.

The theme for this year’s festivities is “Liberty and Justice for All, Kirkland for All.” The theme is meant to piggyback on the resolution and ordinance that were approved by Kirkland City Council earlier this year in an effort to make sure everyone who lives in, works in or visits Kirkland feels welcome here.

“We’re focused on trying to live up to the theme of the event,” Sweet, who is also a city councilmember, said.

Everyone is welcome at the festivities this year, which start with the children’s walking parade at 11:30 a.m., beginning at the intersection of Market Street and Central Way. Prior to the parade, starting at 10 a.m., kids are invited to the Marina Park Pavilion to get ready with tattoos, flags and other decorations.

The old-fashioned downtown parade starts at noon, also at the intersection of Market Street and Central Way. The parade route goes through Lakeshore Plaza down to Kirkland Avenue, then heads east on Kirkland Avenue to Main Street, where it turns north and goes back to Central Way, then loops back to the Market Street intersection.

From 1-10:30 p.m., everyone is invited to bring a picnic basket or buy items from food vendors in Marina Park. Music starts at 5 p.m., and the fireworks start at 10:15 p.m.

The Kirkland Downtown Association (KDA) held a design contest for the official Celebrate Kirkland Fourth of July T-shirt, and Joan Patterson won with her design that incorporates this year’s theme with a drawing of the beloved Cow and Coyote statue located at the intersection of Central Way and Lake Street in downtown Kirkland. T-shirts will be sold for $20 each while supplies last during the parade, KDA executive director Barbie Collins Young said.

For more information about Celebrate Kirkland, visit celebratekirkland.org. Those interested in volunteering can sign up there, contact Sweet at (425) 756-5576 or contact Susan Bromery at (954) 234-8482.

Parking, traffic reminders

To accommodate the Celebrate Kirkland events, the Lakeshore Plaza Parking Lot will be closed from 6 a.m. to about 11 p.m. July 4. The public boat launch at Marina Park will be closed from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 8:30-11 p.m.

For the parades, the Lake Street Parking Lot will be closed from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Cars parked along the parade route will be towed starting at 7 a.m.

The City of Kirkland has also released a list of roads that will be closed from 9:30 a.m. to about 2 p.m:

Fourth, Fifth and Sixth avenues from First Street to Market Street

Fifth Avenue West from Waverly Way to Market Street

Waverly Way from Fifth Street West to Market Street

Second and Third streets from Fifth Avenue West to Waverly Way

Market Street from Seventh Avenue to Central Way

Lake Avenue West

First Street from Third Avenue to Central Way

Second Place from Third Avenue to Central Way

Central Way from Market Street to Main Street

Park Lane from Lake Street to Main Street

Kirkland Avenue from Lakeshore Plaza to Main Street

Lakeshore Plaza from Market Street to Kirkland Avenue

Lake Street from Central Way to Second Avenue South

Main Street from Central Way to Kirkland Avenue

A Kirkland youngster does a backflip inside a trampoline that was set up for a previous Fourth of July parade in downtown Kirkland. Reporter file photo

Joan Patterson had the winning design for the Kirkland Downtown Association’s Celebrate Kirkland T-shirt contest. T-shirts will be sold for $20 each while supplies last during the parade. Artwork courtesy of the Kirkland Downtown Association