Fireworks extravaganza set for June 30

The Twin Cities will be the first in the area to celebrate Independence Day this year with its spectacular, and wildly popular, fireworks extravaganza. Mark your calendars for Saturday, June 30, the weekend before the Wednesday Fourth of July holiday, for this always stunning fireworks display over Boggy Bayou.

Officials with the Niceville Valparaiso Chamber of Commerce, the organization that puts on the show each year for the community, believe the Saturday evening date will make it possible for even more people to attend and enjoy the annual salute to our nation. But that’s not the primary reason for the change. The early date was necessary because the chamber could not find a firm willing to put on the show, and secure a barge from which to do it, on the Fourth of July.

"There are a limited number of companies in the region that put on these shows and none was interested in our show on the Fourth of July, especially if it meant they had to provide a barge," said Scott Jackson, Chair of the Chamber Foundation and head of the chamber’s fireworks committee.

Jackson said with no bidders on the chamber’s request for proposals, organizers were faced with not putting on a fireworks display at all, trying to find a suitable place on land from which to fire the shells, a move which reportedly would require a rather dramatic scaling down of the fireworks show but would not require a barge, or rescheduling the show for the weekend before the holiday.

"No, we’re not trying to change the Fourth of July," explained Tricia Brunson, President and CEO of the Niceville Valparaiso Chamber of Commerce. "Our goal is to put on a good show, one that everyone can enjoy, and celebrate the founding of this great nation."

Brunson said holding the show on Saturday night will make it much easier for people who have to work during the week to attend and enjoy it. Also, holding the show on Saturday is especially convenient for the hundreds of boaters who watch from the water and are faced with a late night tending to their vessels following the show, she said.

In recent years it has become increasingly more difficult to secure a barge for the annual fireworks show. The fireworks are shot from a barge anchored in Boggy Bayou near Lincoln Park. Last year the chamber had to make a last minute appeal to find a barge to use on the Fourth. So this year, Jackson said the chamber elected to make the show a complete turnkey operation, requiring the firm shooting off the fireworks to provide the barge, not the chamber.

"The barge is the real problem here and always has been," said Jackson.

Jackson said a future solution may be to shoot off the fireworks from land, but finding a suitable site approved by fire officials, won’t be easy. Making the show land-based would also require using smaller shells, for public safety reasons, he said.

"We’re looking at this closely to see if there is a better way to do it in the future," said Jackson.

But, even if the shells were fired from the shore instead of a barge, finding a firm willing to present shows in smaller communities on the Fourth of July is getting harder and harder, said Brunson. As other smaller communities’ multi-year fireworks contracts expire, they are going to find themselves in similar situations, she said.

While the chamber may be exploring other options for future shows, chamber officials, including Jackson, like the Saturday event for this year.

"We’re very happy to be able to put on the show. We see this as a positive thing."

The $20,000 fireworks show will begin shortly after dark on June 30, sometime around 8:45 p.m. The City of Valparaiso plans to hold its annual July Fourth family activities in Lincoln Park as usual on the Fourth of July, giving local residents two days to celebrate Independence Day.