Celebrate the nation's birthday in style during Booms & Blooms, a festival of dazzling daylilies, patriotic tunes and sizzling fireworks combined in the setting of Powell Gardens, Kansas City's botanical garden. The event takes place Friday, July 3, with Sunday, July 5, as a rain date.

Located just east of Kansas City on U.S. Highway 50, Powell...

Celebrate the nation's birthday in style during Booms & Blooms, a festival of dazzling daylilies, patriotic tunes and sizzling fireworks combined in the setting of Powell Gardens, Kansas City's botanical garden. The event takes place Friday, July 3, with Sunday, July 5, as a rain date.

Located just east of Kansas City on U.S. Highway 50, Powell Gardens also features Nature Connects 2, a traveling LEGO brick sculpture exhibit that includes 27 pieces set in 14 scenes. Festival-goers should arrive early to see all Powell Gardens has to offer.

With daylilies near peak bloom, the festival is the perfect time to explore the Perennial Garden, which features nearly 500 varieties. McConnell's Plantland will offer daylilies for sale throughout the event. More gardening inspiration can be found in the Heartland Harvest Garden, home of the nation's largest edible landscape with more than 2,000 types of plants to grow and eat.

Live music starts at 4:30 p.m. with the KC Variety Band Trio and continues at 7:30 p.m. when the Lee’s Summit Symphony Orchestra takes the stage. As the music concludes, a dramatic fireworks display takes place over the Gardens’ 12-acre lake.

Festival admission is $12 for adults, $10 for seniors and $5 for children ages 5-12 and includes parking and access to the trolley. For more details, visit www.powellgardens.org/Booms.