Most North Texas cities do some version of a Fourth of July celebration. The Colony’s version, Liberty By The Lake, actually runs two traditions back to back — a race at sunrise and a parade at mid-morning — before the day settles into the afternoon-and-fireworks routine most cities run.
How the day runs
The morning starts early at Stewart Creek Park, 3700 Sparks Rd, where packet pickup and the 5K/Fun Run get underway between about 6:30 and 7:50am while the lake is still cool. By 10am the action shifts across town for the Independence Day Parade, which starts at Peters Colony Elementary School and finishes at The Colony High School lot. From there the celebration moves to the Athletic Club — The Colony, the 80-acre sports complex on Blair Oaks Drive formerly known as Five Star Complex, for live performances, a Freedom Business Expo giving local businesses a platform for the day, and festive food vendors keeping the crowd fed through the afternoon heat. The day closes with a fireworks finale. The whole event is free and open to all ages.
The Athletic Club’s afternoon slot isn’t incidental. Its open fields and walking trail give the expo and food vendors room to spread out, and a crowd big enough for a proper fireworks show, in a way a smaller city park couldn’t easily accommodate — while the parade route through Peters Colony and the 5K at Stewart Creek Park each get a setting suited to what they actually need: streets for one, park trails for the other.
The rest of the summer calendar
Liberty By The Lake isn’t the only recurring civic tradition on The Colony’s calendar. The city’s Cinema Nights series — a rebrand of the longtime Movies in the Park program — runs free family film screenings at Galaxy Theatres at Grandscape throughout the year, trading an outdoor lawn for luxury theater seating. And every October, neighborhoods across the city take part in National Night Out, the nationwide crime-and-drug-prevention event, with The Colony Police Department hosting an Open House and Touch-A-Truck event at headquarters.
Taken together, the pattern is fairly consistent: free, family-oriented, and leaning on what the city already has — a neighborhood parade route, a lakefront park for a sunrise race, a sports complex built to hold an afternoon crowd, a police department that shows up in a Touch-A-Truck event. For a city that’s grown as fast as this one has, building civic tradition around existing infrastructure rather than a historic downtown square is a fairly practical way to do it.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is Liberty By The Lake held?
Liberty By The Lake is held annually on July 4. The 5K/Fun Run starts at Stewart Creek Park around 6:30–7:50am, the Independence Day Parade runs from Peters Colony Elementary School to The Colony High School starting at 10am, and the afternoon expo, food vendors, and fireworks finale are at the Athletic Club — The Colony, 4100 Blair Oaks Drive.
Is Liberty By The Lake free?
Yes, every part of it — the 5K, the parade, and the afternoon expo and fireworks — is free and open to all ages.
What happens at Liberty By The Lake?
The day includes a sunrise 5K/Fun Run at Stewart Creek Park, a 10am Independence Day Parade from Peters Colony Elementary to The Colony High School, then an afternoon Freedom Business Expo, live performances, and food vendors at the Athletic Club, capped with a fireworks finale.
What other recurring events does The Colony hold?
The Colony’s Cinema Nights series runs free family movie screenings at Galaxy Theatres at Grandscape throughout the year, and National Night Out takes place every October at The Colony Police Department headquarters.