It’s Red White and Boom… and traffic doom.

While the annual celebration is a magnificent event in Downtown Columbus, it can be a little rough on residents and employees.  Suddenly, our comforting streets and walkways are swarmed by masses of humanity and festivities.  It’s tens of hundreds of thousands of firework-revelers, everywhere.

So, instead of staying for the fantastic show, we tend to make an early break for the exits.  The annual day-long traffic jam is worth avoiding at any cost, right?

Not really.  The folks at Red White and BOOM have added tons of events to keep you celebrating all day long.  The Midway opens at 11 am; you’ll find children’s activities at Battelle Park; live entertainment begins at 1 pm on the Genoa Park and Long Street BOOM stages; Taste of BOOM presented by the Arena District begins at 3 pm; Clippers BOOM opens at 6 pm with live music and a new spot to watch the fireworks; and the Independence Day Parade with Air National Guard flyover begins at 6 pm.

If you want to avoid the post-BOOM traffic, you could also consider staying at one of our downtown hotels.  The post-show commute then becomes a quick stroll to a safe air conditioned room.  While most of the Boom-only reservations have been spoken for, the travel Web sites still show some Friday availability for those who are willing to reserve a Saturday night too.  Translation: there might be some late-breaking vacancies toward the end of the week.

You can save yourself the effort of calling around by checking Web sites like Hotels.com - its listings include downtown joints like The Lofts, The Hyatts and The Westin.

Still inclined to flee?  At least you can take some All-American barbecue with you this year.  Stop at Cook Shack BBQ on Long Street.  The fare has earned reviewer raves for its ribs, chicken, pulled pork, brisket and a host of sides.

Like many businesses downtown, it’s locally owned and operated by an independent proprietor.  That makes it a great way to celebrate Independence Day.