{"id":362173,"date":"2026-07-05T23:00:22","date_gmt":"2026-07-05T23:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/362173\/"},"modified":"2026-07-05T23:00:22","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T23:00:22","slug":"photos-el-paso-goes-all-out-for-americas-250th-birthday-at-downtown-block-party","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/362173\/","title":{"rendered":"PHOTOS: El Paso goes all out for America\u2019s 250th birthday at Downtown block party"},"content":{"rendered":"

EL PASO, Texas (KTSM<\/a>) \u2014\u00a0\u00a0It was a sea of red, white, and blue across Downtown El Paso as the Borderland gathered to celebrate an historic milestone: America\u2019s 250th birthday.<\/p>\n

The Convention Center Plaza and Chihuahua Street were transformed into a massive block party for the America 250 bash. Presented by Destination El Paso in partnership with the City of El Paso and Fort Bliss Morale, Welfare and Recreation, the event brought the community together to celebrate in true patriotic fashion.<\/p>\n

The festivities kicked off with a solemn presentation of the colors and a beautiful rendition of the \u201cStar Spangled Banner,\u201d setting a deeply reflective tone before the day\u2019s celebrations.<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"\"Saul<\/p>\n

Saul Monroy<\/p>\n

\u201cThe colors mean everything to me. Like I said, I\u2019m a retired Marine. So being able to fight for my country, having that flag on my back and being able to carry it and watching these colors everywhere, it\u2019s just an amazing feeling as a veteran,\u201d said Saul Monroy, a retired U.S. Marine who attended the event.<\/p>\n

Once the anthem wrapped up, the party truly began.<\/p>\n

Fort Bliss\u2019s 1st Armored Division Band filled the air with American classics. The fun also moved indoors, where attendees enjoyed classic Fourth of July traditions, including an apple pie competition, a colonial fashion show, and a highly anticipated hot dog eating contest.<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"\"\"\"\"\"\"\"\"\"\"\"\"\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

Live music kept the energy high throughout the evening, with a heavy emphasis on Texas country to keep the crowd dancing.<\/p>\n

\"\"\"Luz<\/p>\n

Luz Arreaga and Guadalupe Hernandez<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s Texas. Yeah. Get us moving and we\u2019re happy,\u201d attendees Guadalupe Hernandez and Luz Arreaga said of the musical lineup.<\/p>\n

For many in the crowd, hitting the two-and-a-half-century mark brought out a profound sense of pride and offered a chance to reflect on the nation\u2019s long history.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt makes me excited inside because I have to think to myself, \u2018You know what? This is the United States of America. We\u2019ve been a country for 250 years,\u2019\u201d said Christopher Dustin, who was visiting from Arizona.<\/p>\n

\"Christopher<\/p>\n

Christopher Dustin<\/p>\n

El Pasoan Abraham Apodaca echoed that sentiment, taking a moment to honor those who paved the way.<\/p>\n

\"Abraham<\/p>\n

Abraham Apodaca<\/p>\n

\u201cI guess all the tough battles, I mean, it wasn\u2019t easy. You know, we had generals and past presidents out in the frontlines fighting for our country. So 250 years ago, this, to them, was just a dream. And now we\u2019re here living it for them,\u201d Apodaca said.<\/p>\n

The historic celebration capped off in spectacular fashion with an incredible projection, drone show, and fireworks display lighting up the sky right by the El Paso Chihuahuas game, leaving attendees with an unforgettable conclusion to the Fourth of July.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) \u2014\u00a0\u00a0It was a sea of red, white, and blue across Downtown El Paso as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":362174,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[13868,11020,19460,8443,138,140,139,128486,128488,64422,27,128485,128487],"class_list":["post-362173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-el-paso","tag-america","tag-block-party","tag-destination-el-paso","tag-downtown-el-paso","tag-el-paso","tag-el-paso-headlines","tag-el-paso-news","tag-fort-bliss-morale","tag-retired-marine","tag-star-spangled-banner","tag-texas","tag-the-convention-center","tag-welfare-and-recreation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=362173"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362173\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/362174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=362173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=362173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=362173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}