May 23, 2025
Provided Image/Chrissy Balster
Whitemarsh Township canceled its 2025 Fourth of July parade citing public safety concerns, prompting backlash from residents who hope to save the community's decades-old tradition. At a special meeting Thursday, officials said they may consider finding a way to hold the event.
Several hundred Whitemarsh residents attended a special meeting on Thursday night to address the township's abrupt cancelation of the community's annual Fourth of July parade. The event was called off earlier this month, officials said, because of concerns about violent incidents that have happened at holiday gatherings in other communities elsewhere in the country.
Following more than two hours of public comments – often impassioned and critical of the township's leaders – some hope emerged that a parade may be back on the table this year.
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On Friday morning, Whitemarsh posted a volunteer sign-up form for residents to get involved in parade planning. The board of supervisors also said they will soon announce a date for a follow-up public meeting, but stopped short of committing to reverse its decision.
"It is clear that residents want to be more involved with the parade," a post on the township's Facebook page reads.
When the board voted May 9 to cancel the parade, they gave virtually no advance public notice that the event was in jeopardy. Whitemarsh Township Police Chief Christopher Ward had recommended in April that the parade be scrapped due to public safety risks along the roughly 1-mile route on Germantown Pike, where the community has celebrated the holiday since the 1950s.
Although there have been no specific threats to the town, Ward determined Whitemarsh lacked the equipment needed to protect the parade route from the risk of cars being used to target the event from side streets.
The police chief cited a changing, more dangerous world and said he had attended an eye-opening presentation from first responders involved in the 2022 mass shooting at a Fourth of July event in Highland Park, a suburb north of Chicago. This year's deadly vehicle attacks in New Orleans and Vancouver also highlighted the vulnerabilities of the parade in Whitemarsh, Ward said.
Community members were outraged by what they perceived as a lack of transparency into the decision to cancel the July Fourth parade. On the day of the vote, the board's meeting agenda mentioned only an "update" on the parade without any other context.
"That was one of the most deceiving things we could have ever done," board of supervisors vice chair Frank McCusker said at Thursday night's meeting."... I'm embarrassed by that."
Township officials said they canceled the parade when it became clear upgrading safety barriers and boosting security staff could exceed $200,000. In years past, the parade cost about $28,000. Even if the the town approved buying new equipment or renting it at a lower cost, officials said they were told it was too late to have the barriers available on July 4.
During public comments, residents said Whitemarsh's leaders failed to engage the community to find solutions. Some said Ward's safety recommendations – derived from state and federal guidance – were "overkill" for Whitemarsh. And many commented that the township's "fear-based" decision will set a precedent of sacrificing tradition because of event costs.
Township officials said they are confident about holding a safer parade next year to mark the nation's 250th birthday, but the tone of the meeting shifted when a number of residents demanded a parade this year. They suggested using alternate routes, pooling community resources and the possibility of holding the event on July 5, if necessary, to allow the township to borrow barriers from neighboring municipalities in Montgomery County.
Chrissy Balster, one of several Whitemarsh residents who made a petition to save the parade, urged the board to think creatively about ways to hold the event this year.
"Whitemarsh is a wonderful place where we have passion and pride and we support each other," Balster said. "That is not happening right now by you all. We fell short. We missed the mark. It was too late. It was too complicated. Come on, we can do better than that. And if you can't, we can."
Only two of Whitemarh's five elected board members were present at Thursday's meeting. The township said it needed a quorum of at least three board members to schedule another planning meeting, and that would allow them to potentially hold another vote to reconsider having this year's event.
Maura Ciammetti, another Whitemarsh resident who spoke at the meeting, said Friday that the board is sending mixed messages that raise more questions.
If the problem for the parade is obtaining barriers and staff in time for July 4 – rather than budget considerations – Ciammetti said she wonders why board members brought up community fundraising to cover parade costs. And even though the township's insurance carrier shared liability concerns about the parade, officials acknowledged Thursday that Whitemarsh would not have been denied coverage for the event if it could not get upgraded equipment.
"If this is something that's important to your constituents, why are we not using our funds and our availability and our resources to help make this actionable?" Ciammetti said.
