Have fun with family and friends at Lake Junaluska this Independence Day
June 28 – July 5, 2026
Lake Junaluska’s annual Independence Day Celebration features family-friendly fun — from concerts to fireworks to floating lanterns. This year’s theme is “Sweet Land of Liberty – 250 Years.” The multi-day event will be full of activities as well as a time to soak up summer enjoying the lakeside swimming pool, a round of golf, a cruise on the Cherokee IV pontoon boat or a canoe, kayak or paddleboard rental. And check out our new dedicated pickleball courts! The annual celebration is made possible with support from Visit Haywood (Plan Your Trip!) and our Friends of the Lake Sponsors.
Accommodations can be booked now at the lakeside Terrace Hotel and historic Lambuth Inn. We are also offering an Independence Day Celebration Lodging Package, which includes a barbecue lunch, concerts, a guided lake cruise and more!
To book lodging at Lake Junaluska, call 828-452-2881, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. or book online.
Schedule
The Independence Day Celebration schedule is subject to change.
Sunday, June 28, 2026
7-9 a.m. | Terrace Hotel Buffet Breakfast
9 a.m. | Outdoor Summer Worship Lakeside White Tent | Rev. MaryAnn McKibben Dana Theologian in Residence
Monday, June 29, 2026
7-9 a.m. | Terrace Hotel Buffet Breakfast
8:30 a.m. | Morning Devotion Harrell Center Porch | Rev. MaryAnn McKibben Dana Theologian in Residence
10-11:30 a.m. | Theologian-in-Residence Session with Rev. MaryAnn McKibben Dana Harrell Center 202 (donation encouraged)
Tuesday, June 30, 2026
7-9 a.m. | Terrace Hotel Buffet Breakfast
10-11:30 a.m. | Theologians-in-Residence Session with Rev. MaryAnn McKibben Dana Harrell Center 202 (donation encouraged)
Wednesday, July 1, 2026
7-9 a.m. | Terrace Hotel Buffet Breakfast
7 a.m.-7 p.m. | Closest to the Pin Golf Competition Lake Junaluska Golf Course
8-10 a.m. | Outfitters – Pickleball Tournament
10-11:30 a.m. | Theologians-in-Residence Session with Rev. MaryAnn McKibben Dana Harrell Center 202 (donation encouraged)
9:15 p.m. | Floating Lanterns on the Lake
Thursday, July 2, 2026
7-9 a.m. | Terrace Hotel Buffet Breakfast
9-11 a.m. | Tennis Tournament
5-7 p.m. | Red White & Smoked BBQ Dinner at the White Tent $25 (pay at time of purchase)
7 p.m. | Upstream Rebellion & Balsam Range Concert Stuart Auditorium
Friday, July 3, 2026
7-9 a.m. | Terrace Hotel Buffet Breakfast
9:30 a.m. | Flotilla — Decorated Kayak/Canoe/Paddleboard Contest Colonnade Register online
2-4 p.m. | Cornhole Tournament sponsored by Junaluskans
5:30-8:30 p.m. | Red White & Smoked BBQ Dinner at the White Tent $25 (pay at time of purchase)
7 p.m. | Blue Ridge Big Band Lakeside White Tent
9:15 p.m. | Fireworks From the Lake Junaluska Dam (For special viewing, buy Fireworks Poolside Seating Tickets!)
Saturday, July 4, 2026
7-9 a.m. | Terrace Hotel Buffet Breakfast
11 a.m. | Parade North Lakeshore Drive
12-2 p.m. | Family Fun on the Fourth
Free to attend with lunch available for purchase. Cookout Buffet Picnic (Buy lunch tickets in advance or at the door.), Singing Soldiers and Whitewater Bluegrass (live music), Family Square Dance & more kid-friendly fun Open-Air Nanci Weldon Memorial Gym
7 p.m. | Reading of the Declaration of Independence and Singing Soldiers Concert Stuart Auditorium
Sunday, July 5, 2026
7-9 a.m. | Terrace Hotel Buffet Breakfast
9 a.m. | Outdoor Summer Worship Lakeside White Tent | The Rev. Dr. Daniel Shin Theologian in Residence (Sponsored by the Foundation for Evangelism)
Recreation, Shopping & Dining
Visit Junaluska Gifts & Grounds, Crepe & Custard, and enjoy the Lake Junaluska golf course, pool, boat rentals, tennis/pickleball, playground, walking trail and gardens, lakeside cruises and library. Memorial Chapel will also be open for prayer.
Free or low-cost family-friendly activities throughout Lake Junaluska’s Independence Day Celebration are offered through the Lake’s Summer Activities Program. Join us for a multi-day Independence Day Celebration full of activities such as:
- decorated kayak/canoe/paddleboard flotilla competition
- parade
- food trucks
- family square dance
- live bluegrass music
- morning devotion
- cornhole tournament (sponsored by Junaluskans)
- fireworks
- floating lanterns (donate a lantern)
- fishing
- pickleball & tennis tournaments
- closest-to-the-pin contest at the golf course
We also invite you to shop or enjoy ice cream at Junaluska Gifts & Grounds; play a round of golf at the Lake Junaluska Golf Course, swim at the lakeside pool, take a tour on the Cherokee IV pontoon boat, or rent a kayak, canoe or paddleboard. You can also explore the Christmas Memories shop at Lambuth Inn, lakeside walking trail, playground, and gardens and places of meditation, and enjoy fishing and birding!
As part of Lake Junaluska’s multi-day Independence Day Celebration, staff and volunteers place floating lanterns on the lake. Each lantern carries a name in remembrance or in honor of a loved one. All are welcome to the lakeside to enjoy, celebrate and admire this enchanting and meaningful display. Make a gift and dedicate a lantern online. Donations will be accepted online through Tuesday, June 30.
Lantern contributions support the Annual Fund which sustains the mission and ministry of Lake Junaluska. A list of names of those who are honored and memorialized, along with the names of those who gave, is now available. View the list of 2024 Lake Junaluska Floating Wish Lantern Dedications (PDF) made in advance of the event and see a Facebook album of photos. An album of photos will be shared during the week following the event.
To help keep the lake clean, the lanterns are biodegradable and staff and volunteers will help gather as many lanterns as possible from the lake after the event as soon as conditions allow.
Lake Junaluska’s Independence Day Celebrations feature concerts and music!
Balsam Range takes the stage at historic Stuart Auditorium with special guest Upstream Rebellion on Thursday, July 2.
Blue Ridge Big Band will perform at the Lakeside White Tent on Friday, July 3 before the mountain lake fireworks show.
Singing Soldiers will lead the singing of the national anthem at noon on Saturday, July 4, at the Family Fun on the Fourth cookout buffet picnic event. Then, Whitewater Bluegrass will perform live and lead a family square dance. Singing Soldiers also perform a concert that evening.
Friday, July 3, 2026
Approximately 9:15 p.m.
Colorful displays of fireworks will cast reflections on the lake as part of Lake Junaluska’s annual Independence Day Celebrations! The fireworks are set off from the bridge over the dam and visible from locations around the lake. Tickets are also available for a Fireworks Lake Cruise aboard the Cherokee IV (Buy tickets!)!
On the day of the fireworks show, the bridge over-the-dam, including the portion of the Walking Trail that goes over the bridge, will close early to vehicular and pedestrian traffic for safety reasons as preparations are made for the event.
Thank you to Visit Haywood and our Friends of the Lake sponsors below for helping make this event possible!
Partnership Sponsor
- Haywood Regional Medical Center
Patron Sponsors
- Clark & Leatherwood, Inc
- Haywood Ace Hardware
- Maple Tree Veterinary Hospital
- RCF Construction, Inc.
- Smoky Mountain News
- The Mountaineer
Friends Sponsors
- Beverly-Hanks, McElroy & Ellege Team
- First United Methodist Church, Waynesville
- Haywood Community College
- New York Life, Brian Briggs
- Sunrise Rotary Foundation of Waynesville
