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By NOAH WORTHAM | Managing Editor

COLUMBIANA – Live music will echo from the stage as residents and visitors alike enjoy vendors, food trucks and family-friendly fun during the 39th annual Liberty Day celebration in Columbiana.

This year’s installment of Liberty Day in the city of Columbiana will take place on Friday, June 27 and Saturday, June 28 with a selection of activities for families to enjoy on Columbiana Main Street and Old Mill Square Park.

“We are really excited,” said Ali Payne, manager of community services for Columbiana. “it’s going to be a great year. We’ve adjusted a few little things and tweaked some little things. We are really excited for Liberty Day this year.”

Over the last 39 years, Columbiana’s annual Liberty Day has evolved from a small celebration of the Statue of Liberty into a two-day family event that serves as the biggest event of the year in Columbiana with members from across the community participating.

“Our goal is always to bring people to Columbiana,” Payne said. “We are out of the way. We are not somewhere that you pass through, so you have to be intentional about coming to Columbiana. We want people to be intentional and come for evens and then come back and shop and maybe even become part of our community.”

Liberty Day 2025 will kick off on June 27 at 5 p.m. with the Official Clutch Band performing a series of tunes on the Faulkner Industrial Main Street Stage at 5:30 p.m. The Heather Hayes Experience will then close out the first night with a performance at 7:30 p.m.

The annual Columbiana Main Street Liberty Day 5K will kick off Saturday’s festivities at 8 a.m. in Old Mill Square. The 5K has a $30 race fee and registration is available online until June 26 at 11:59 p.m.

“This course is flat and fast and waiting on your next personal record,” race director Joel Dixon said. “Come for the race and stay for the street festival and a concert on the football field and fireworks to close out the night.”

The following events and festivities are planned for June 28 following the 5K:

• 8-9 a.m. – Body Worx with Refreshed Fitness at the Old Mill Square stage
• 9 a.m. – Welcome at the Faulkner Industrial Main Street Stage and National Anthem led by Anna Brooke Bowers
• 9:15 a.m. – Dream Makers Dancers on the Faulkner Industrial Main Street Stage
• 9:30 a.m. – Liberty Day 5K awards on the Old Mill Square stage
• 10 a.m. – Ian Cuthbertson on the Faulkner Industrial Main Street Stage
• 10:30 a.m. DJ on the Old Mill Square stage
• Noon – Beth Chapman on the Faulkner Industrial Main Street Stage
• 12:30 p.m. – Michael Warren on the Old Mill Square stage
• 1 p.m. – Car Show Awards at First Baptist Church of Columbiana on Main Street
• 1:30 p.m. – Parade line up at the Shelby County License office

The annual Liberty Day Parade will take place at 2 p.m. and will travel down Columbiana Main Street with a host of participants, including this year’s grand marshal Frank C. “Butch” Ellis.

Liberty Day festivities will conclude at Shelby County High School’s football stadium. The gates will open at 5 p.m. and opener Emily Ann Roberts will take the stage from 6:30-7:30 p.m.

“I’m excited to see her,” Payne said. “It’ll be a lot of fun.”

From 8-9:30 p.m., headliner Easton Corbin will take the stage and entertain residents with a selection of tracks. Corbin is an American country music artist signed to Mercury Records in Nashville. A Florida native, Corbin has secured two No.1 singles to his name with tracks such as “A Little More Country Than That” and “Roll With It” from his self-titled debut album in 2010.

“I am excited about Easton Corbin,” Payne said. “He has some great songs. It will be a fun night.”

The Liberty Day festivities will close out with a bang as the annual fireworks display takes the sky near Shelby County High School’s football stadium at 9:30 p.m. and will last approximately 20 minutes.

“It is a phenomenal show, and it wraps everything up,” Payne said.