This year’s three-day Liberty Festival started with a bang, lighting up the Twin Cities with an impressive fireworks show, live music and American patriotism.

Decked out in festive holiday attire, locals and visitors alike flooded Lewiston’s Veterans Memorial Park and Auburn’s Great Falls Plaza on Thursday evening, transforming both sides of the Androscoggin River into a sea of red, white and blue.

For many festivalgoers, Liberty Festival is an annual tradition.

“We’ve been coming here every year since the 1990s,” said Allison Tardif, who came with her husband, Dennis Edwards.

In addition to the bands, food trucks and fireworks, Edwards said he enjoys “seeing how many of my family members show up.”

Although their family never plans in advance to meet at the festival, Edwards said the couple always spots plenty of relatives and the festival “ends up being like a family reunion.”

Remmi Bailey, 10, of Auburn carries a sign Thursday that she made for July 4th at the 27th annual Liberty Festival at Veteran’s Memorial Park in Lewiston. Bailey is a sixth-grade student at Sherwood Heights Elementary School. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

“Next thing you know we’ve got all our family gathered around” to celebrate Independence Day, Tardif said.

Sharon Rawstron also views the festival as an opportunity to make new family memories. She came with her mother, Jeannine Lemelin, “so that she can see the outdoors … a bit more” and so that the pair could “celebrate Lewiston and the independence America has earned” together.

While they didn’t know if they were going to stick around for the fireworks, they said they were most excited to see local performer Robert Washington, an Elvis tribute artist.

The first Black man to win the Elvis Impersonator World Championship, Washington kicked off the festival’s live music shortly after 5 p.m. After performing at the festival nearly every year, Washington has become a fan favorite.

Groups Bazinga and L/A Harley kept the music — and party — going in Veterans Memorial Park. On the other side of the river, DJ Scotty Dawg reigned over Auburn’s dance party.

At 9:30 p.m., the day was expected to reach its explosive finale — fireworks.

On Friday, the Liberty Festival will continue with performances from “American Idol” sensation and Maine native Julia Gagnon and Country Roads Band in Veterans Memorial Park. The festival will end with a flag retirement ceremony Saturday.

Some festival attendees said the first day of the festival is about more than just food, music and fireworks. It is about celebrating Fourth of July, “our independence and all the heroes who got our country to where it is today,” Rawstron said.

William Davis of Lewiston attends the 27th annual Liberty Festival on Thursday at Veteran’s Memorial Park in Lewiston. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

For local veterans like Tom Mosher, who served in the Vietnam War, the holiday carries a special meaning. Asked what the Fourth of July means to him, he said, “it stands for freedom.”

“We lost a lot of people to protect (our country’s) freedom,” Mosher said, as he pointed toward the veterans’ memorial at the back of the park, which consists of memorial stones engraved with local veterans’ names. Mosher said his name was among them.

Like Mosher, Suzanne Culleton shared that Independence Day and community celebrations like Liberty Festival have “always meant a lot to me.”

“I was a military wife for 21 years,” she said. “My husband passed away in the Gulf War. He got a disease that attacked his heart.”

Robert Washington of Auburn, an Elvis impersonator, hands a scarf Thursday to Laurie Tyler of Lewiston during his performance at the 27th annual Liberty Festival in Lewiston. Elvis had a tradition of handing out scarves during his stage performances. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal

“He loved his country,” she said of her husband, Randy Culleton, whose name is also on a memorial stone. “Every time he could go to serve his country, he went.”

Others see the Liberty Festival as an important way to help the Lewiston and Auburn community continue to heal from last year’s mass shooting at a local bar and a bowling alley.

“We need Liberty Festival this year because of October,” said Sue, who declined to give her last name.

Not only does she believe that the festival will bring Lewiston and Auburn solidarity and solace, she said Independence Day is special because “it brings the whole country together.”