Hundreds gathered in Southport Saturday for the state's official Independence Day celebration. It was where art, celebration and of course patriotism collided. It's been that way for three decades. "We’ve been through hard times lately, and I think it is just a reason to bring everybody together,” said Angela Herman who is visiting from Durham. “We come every year to the parade; we've been coming since we moved to Southport in 1983,” said Harry Martin.