Kick off the Fourth with Lexington's sweet tradition: Homemade pie and ice cream

The Fourth of July starts with pie, in Lexington at least.

The annual Great American Pie Contest and Ice Cream Social kicks off July 3 at noon at the Fifth Third Pavilion on Main Street.

If you want to enter a pie, go to downtownlex.com to download the form, which is due by mail by July 1. You will need to bring your pie to the pavilion by 10 a.m. on July 3 for judging. Awards will be presented in two categories: made from scratch and semi-homemade. Judges also will select the prettiest pie.

Then all the entries will be sliced and the public gets a piece of pie and ice cream for free, beginning about 1 p.m.

That evening, there will be a patriotic music concert at Transylvania University's Morrison Law at 8 p.m. It's free and you're encouraged to bring chairs or blankets for seating, and food and beverages for picnicking.

On July 4, the city's festivities begin with the Bluegrass 10,000 race through downtown at 7:30 a.m. There will be a downtown street festival with arts, crafts, concessions and live music from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., including the reading of the Declaration of Independence at the historic courthouse at 11 a.m. and a parade down Main Street from Midland to Mill Street at 2 p.m.

The evening will conclude with July Fourth Live! featuring music in the Fifth Third Bank Pavilion at Cheapside Park from 7 to 9:30 p.m. and fireworks off the top of the Big Blue building at 10 p.m. To see the fireworks, the city recommends being at least two or three blocks away from the Lexington Financial Center.

This story was originally published June 21, 2018 at 10:02 AM with the headline "Kick off the Fourth with Lexington's sweet tradition: Homemade pie and ice cream."