Bay City Fireworks Festival | |
---|---|
Genre | American Independence Day fireworks festival |
Date(s) | 4th of July weekend |
Frequency | Annually |
Location(s) | Bay City, Michigan, United States of America |
Years active | 62 |
Inaugurated | 4th of July 1962 |
Most recent | 4th of July 2024 |
Website | www |
The Bay City Fireworks Festival is an American Independence Day festival held each year around the 4th of July [1] on the Saginaw River near Veterans Memorial Bridge in Bay City, Michigan.
In addition to the fireworks display, the festival also features several days of live concerts, a carnival, boat tours and more. [1]
The festival originally started in 1962, by resident Richard Davis, and was funded by Bay City's Fraternal Order of Police at a cost of $2,500. [2]
In 1982, the show was moved from a one night affair on the Fourth of July, becoming a weekend festival with three days of fireworks.
In 2008, the show included a barge in the middle of the river to make for a third launching site.
The fireworks display is usually produced by local fireworks company Wolverine Fireworks, which is based in Kawkawlin, Michigan, less than 10 miles from the site of the festival.
The fireworks went on in 2020; however, the COVID-19 pandemic forced people to watch the show from afar.
In 2012, the 50th anniversary of the Bay City fireworks Festival featured 50,000 fireworks shells, and a musically choreographed fireworks display that lasted more than 50 minutes, making it the largest fireworks display ever seen in Michigan at that time. [3]
The festival was divided into three separate shows, on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. [4] The Friday show featured the colors of area schools who helped raise money for that year's festival. The grand finale on Friday night featured the colors of whichever school raised the most money for the Fireworks Festival throughout the year.
While fundraising and setup for the festival is a year-round affair, actual set up for the fireworks display in 2012 required over 1,600 hours loading and arranging shells and wires. The shows were all choreographed to music, which were broadcast via speakers set up at Wenonah Park on the Saginaw River's east bank, and Veterans Memorial Park on the river's west bank. Music were broadcast over the radio on 94.5 F.M. [5]
Performers included Bull Honkey Deluxe, Jedi Mind Trip, The Magic Bus, and Steel Wheels. [4]
In 2012, the Bay City Fireworks Festival made a national list of great fireworks shows, as chosen by voters. [6]
Fireworks are low explosive pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays, combining a large number of devices in an outdoor setting. Such displays are the focal point of many cultural and religious celebrations, though mismanagement could lead to fireworks accidents.
Saginaw County, officially the County of Saginaw, is a county located in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 190,124. The county seat is Saginaw. The county was created by September 10, 1822, and was fully organized on February 9, 1835. The etymology of the county's name is uncertain. It may be derived from Sace-nong or Sak-e-nong, as the Sauk tribe is believed by some to have once lived there. A more likely possibility is that it comes from Ojibwe words meaning "place of the outlet" –sag and ong. See List of Michigan county name etymologies.
Bay City is a city in and the county seat of Bay County, Michigan, United States. The population was 32,661 as of the 2020 census. The city is located just upriver from Saginaw Bay on the Saginaw River. It is the principal city of the Bay City metropolitan area, which is coterminous with Bay County as part of the larger Greater Tri-Cities region of Central Michigan. Several historic bridges cross the Saginaw River in Bay City, including Liberty Bridge, Veterans Memorial Bridge, Independence Bridge, and Lafayette Avenue Bridge.
Frankenmuth is a city in Saginaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 4,987 at the 2020 census. The city is surrounded by Frankenmuth Township.
Saginaw is a city in and the seat of Saginaw County, Michigan, United States. The city proper had a population of 44,202 at the 2020 census. Located along the Saginaw River, Saginaw is adjacent to Saginaw Charter Township and considered part of Greater Tri-Cities region of Central Michigan. The Saginaw metropolitan area had a population of 190,124 in 2020. The city is also the largest municipality in the Greater Tri-Cities, with a combined population of 377,474 in the combined statistical area in 2020.
Independence Day, known colloquially as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States which commemorates the ratification of the Declaration of Independence by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, establishing the United States of America.
The Thumb is a region and a peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan, so named because the Lower Peninsula is shaped like a mitten. The Thumb area is generally considered to be in the Central Michigan region, east of the Flint area and the Tri-Cities and north of Metro Detroit. The region is also branded as the Blue Water Area.
The International Freedom Festival is a multi-day celebration in late June marking Canada Day on July 1 and the American Independence Day on July 4. Detroit, Michigan, in the United States and Windsor, Ontario, in Canada jointly celebrate the multi-day festival which draws about 3.5 million visitors. The International Freedom Festival began in 1959.
The Flint Journal is a quad-weekly newspaper based in Flint, Michigan, owned by Booth Newspapers, a subsidiary of Advance Publications. Published Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays, it serves Genesee, Lapeer and Shiawassee Counties. As of February 2, 2012, it is headquartered in Downtown Flint at 540 S Saginaw St, Suite 504. The paper and its sister publications The Saginaw News and The Bay City Times are printed at the Booth-owned Valley Publishing Co. printing plant in Monitor Township.
M-84 is a north–south state trunkline highway in the Lower Peninsula of the US state of Michigan. The highway starts on the west side of Saginaw at an intersection with M-58 and runs north through residential and commercial areas. There are two colleges or universities near the trunkline as it connects Saginaw with Bay City, providing an alternative to the freeway that carries Interstate 75/US Highway 23 (I-75/US 23). The northern terminus is at a pair of intersections with M-25 on the east side of the Saginaw River in Bay City.
Thunder Over Louisville is an annual airshow and fireworks display in Louisville, Kentucky, serving as the kickoff event of the Kentucky Derby Festival. It is held on a Saturday in April preceding the Kentucky Derby, the first Saturday in May, usually by two weeks. For some time, it was the largest annual fireworks display in North America. To this day, the event remains one of the largest.
The Saginaw River is a 22.4-mile-long (36.0 km) river in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is formed by the confluence of the Tittabawassee and Shiawassee rivers southwest of Saginaw. It flows northward into the Saginaw Bay of Lake Huron, passing through the cities of Saginaw and Bay City, both of which developed around it in the 19th century. The watershed area is 8,595 square miles (22,260 km2). At its mouth, the river's estimated average discharge is 4,827 cubic feet per second (136.7 m3/s).
Boomsday was an annual fireworks celebration that took place on Labor Day weekend in Knoxville, Tennessee. It was the largest Labor Day firework show in the United States, and was considered a top attraction in the region. The event was held on Volunteer Landing and accompanied by live music and festivities.
Bay City State Park is a 2,389-acre (967 ha) state park located on the shore of Saginaw Bay near Bay City in Bay County, Michigan, United States. The Tobico Marsh, one of the largest remaining freshwater, coastal wetlands on the Great Lakes is located in the park. Other natural features of the park include a mile of sandy beach, over 2,000 acres (810 ha) of wetland woods, meadows, oak savannah prairies, and cattail marshes. The park is a haven for migratory birds and wetland wildlife.
The Veterans Memorial Bridge is a drawbridge located in Bay City, Michigan. It carries State Highway M-25 and Business Spur I-75 over the Saginaw River. Its location is just south of Wenonah Park, and Veteran's Park.
This is a list of worldwide fireworks competitions.
Garden State Fireworks is a pyrotechnics company based in the Millington section of Long Hill Township, Morris County, New Jersey, United States. It was founded in 1890 and has been owned by the same family for four generations. It is one of the largest fireworks manufacturers in the United States.
Veterans Memorial Park is the central park of Bay County, Michigan. The park, approximately 97 acres (39 ha), is located along the west bank of the Saginaw River in Bay City, Michigan, United States. Across the river is another city park, Wenonah Park.
Wenonah Park is the central park of Bay County, Michigan. The park, approximately 6.1 acres (2.5 ha), is located along the east bank of the Saginaw River in Bay City, Michigan, United States and centered on an amphitheatre. Across the river is another city park, Veterans Memorial Park.
Harmonious was a multimedia, fireworks-based nighttime spectacular at EPCOT at Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. Intended as the long-term replacement for IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth, Harmonious showcased and celebrated the cultures and stories of the world that have inspired various Disney films and music, and how it can unite us all, overcoming any language or border. The show utilized pyrotechnics, choreographed water fountains, water curtains, lasers, searchlights, and LED screens to present a 360° audio-visual experience on the park's World Showcase Lagoon. The primary show equipment was notably housed on a collective of floating barges that were permanently moored at the center of the lagoon. Before its retirement, Harmonious was described as the largest nighttime spectacular ever created by Disney Live Entertainment.