The city of Seward has led the Fourth of July celebration for every major anniversary.
That will continue for the semiquincentennial, the 250th anniversary of America’s independence.
“We therefore announce that Seward will be Nebraska’s Official Fourth of July Celebration City for the semiquinennial,” Jill Dolberg, interim director of History Nebraska and representative of the Nebraska Semiquincentennial Commission, announced March 15.
The United States is the longest surviving republic with a written constitution, she said.
In 1967, Seward led the Nebraska centennial celebration, Clark Kolterman of the Fourth of July Committee said. In 1976, Seward was the Nebraska site for the country’s bicentennial celebration.
The quasquicentennial in 1992 and the sesquicentenial in 2017 also saw Seward leading the state’s celebrations.
Kolterman and Jerry Meyer of the Nebraska National Guard Museum approached the Semiquincentennial Commission to propose Seward as Nebraska’s Official Fourth of July City for the A250, Dolberg said.
“They explained the planning committees and volunteers they have in place and the city’s long history of offering an unmatched celebration for the Fourth of July,” Dolberg said. “My fellow commissioners and I couldn’t have been more pleased to agree.”
Kolterman said the celebration theme for 2026 has already been chosen and will be One Nation Many Stories.
Meyer said the NNGM is already planning ahead, as well, and will bring Mt. Rushmore to Seward. Actors portraying George and Martha Washington, Abraham and Mary Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson and Theodore Roosevelt will be part of the celebration.
“We think it will be a great party,” Meyer said.
