Weird 4th of July Traditions Utah Should Adopt

Utah is pretty mild when it comes to celebrating the nation's Independence Day. There are the occasional parade, BBQs, and fireworks and that’s all fairly normal.  

Since Pioneer Day is so close to the 4th of July and the celebrations are so similar, Utah should switch up Independence Day and take after some of the wackier traditions held across the U.S. There are four states that really got creative with their 4th of July celebrations. The traditions are wacky, fun, and just plain odd but spice up the traditional holiday.  

5 Traditions Utah Needs to Adopt for Impendence Day: 

Dropping Road Apples 

If you’re confused, don’t worry, this is an odd one. In Hailey, Idaho, residents play a game of “Road Apple Roulette” which involves the 4th of July parade. This one will probably work best in smaller towns but I'm sure Salt Lake could get creative.  

Prior to the parade, 10,000 squares are “sold” and if there are “road apples” dropped in your square, your name gets entered into a drum for prizes. It sounds pretty fun and is a great way to get the whole town involved. I bet the local FFA kids would love to help make this happen! 

Marshmallow Fight 

Bring out your inner kid this summer with a good old marshmallow fight. What better way to re-enact the Revolutionary War than with marshmallows? Ocean Beach, California makes its 4th of July a gooey mess with an annual marshmallow fight.  

I can just imagine this now in downtown St. George... 

Computer Shooting 

That’s right. There's a state out there that spends the 4th of July shooting old electronics and of course, it's Kentucky. Residents gather up all their old electronics and spend the day watching busted desktops explode into pieces. There must be a lot of anger in Kentuckians but hey, I can see the appeal.  

Tug of War  

The people in California really like to get dirty on the 4th of July. Both the towns of Bolinas and Stinson Beach take this challenge super seriously. There's a 200-pound weight minimum and according to Skill Path, Samoans and a jeep to win victory in the past.  

Utah doesn’t have any true beaches but there's Sand Hollow and the fear of getting swimmers itch is enough to bring out anyone's inner beast. 

Lobster Racing 

I by no means recommend that we do actual lobster racing in Utah. But maybe there's a Utah animal we could replace it with...say a cow or a dog maybe. In Maine, there's lobster racing, and though it can result in the catch and release of the lobsters, most Maine residents opt to cook their hard-won lobster friend after the race.  

As the beehive state, bee racing would just be terrifying. Perhaps elk racing since it’s the state animal. Funds could be raised for wildlife conservation and watching elk's race just sounds like a great time.