July 3-4

What happens when Abraham Lincoln meets the 21st century? The Capital City Bicentennial Celebration.

The inaugural event fuses the Springfield Jaycees Capital City Celebration, Taste of Downtown and the Secretary of State’s Ice Cream Social in a two-day festival that also continues the celebration of Lincoln’s 200th birthday.

The 16th president starts the party at 5 p.m. Friday, July 3, with a procession from the Lincoln Home National Historic Site to the Old State Capitol. Local musicians and period performers take the stage at three different locations: the Americana Music Stage at Fifth and Washington, Bicentennial Stage No. 1 at Sixth and Adams, and Bicentennial Stage No. 2 at Fifth and Capitol. Children’s activities, such as juggling, period crafts and games and puppet shows, are available at the Old State Capitol and the Lincoln Home. The Taste of Downtown opens Friday at 5 p.m. for festival-goers in the area of Fifth and Washington streets, and continues Saturday from noon to midnight. Sponsored by Downtown Springfield, Inc., the event features tapas from 18 different downtown restaurants, such as Café Moxo, Holy Land Diner, Lincoln-Douglas Café and Sebastian’s.

Diners have experienced everything from pony shoes to Cajun barbecue shrimp to gelato. “It’s a real cross-section of what all the restaurants want to highlight, what they consider their specialty,” Ann Frescura, DSI event coordinator, says. “We [ask for] ethnic, regional and classic food and beverages.”

The Capital City Bicentennial Celebration runs from 5 p.m.-midnight Friday. A patriotic laser show begins at 9:30 p.m. at the Old State Capitol. The celebration runs from 11 a.m.-midnight Saturday. The Jaycees’ Fourth of July fireworks display begins at 9:30 p.m. For more information, visit DSI at www.downtownspringfield.org.

— Amanda Robert