Bangor’s Fourth of July event organizers are going back to what works for this year’s fireworks display.
This year, Bangor’s Fourth of July fireworks will be launched from the grassy area on the waterfront that sits next to the Maine Savings Amphitheater and the Penobscot River. Spectators will be able to see the colorful explosions from the waterfront, said Jen Goddard, one of four volunteers who put Bangor’s Fourth of July events together.
The organizers are reverting back to a tried-and-true plan for the fireworks after last year’s display was not visible to people who hoped to enjoy it from within the Maine Savings Amphitheater while listening to the Bangor Symphony Orchestra, as the amphitheater blocked half of the bursts.
“This year, we decided not to do the Bangor Symphony Orchestra and we’re not going inside Waterfront Concerts at all,” Goddard said. “We’re shifting gears and going back to what we know works, which is to have the fireworks and concert on the waterfront.”
The fireworks will follow a free concert on a portable stage near the corner of Railroad and Front streets. Marionette, an Aroostook County rock and pop band, will play at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, followed by The Stone Doctors, a Rolling Stones cover band, at 7:15 p.m.
While the concert is free, donations for the Northern Light Pediatric Cancer Care Center in Brewer will be collected during the event. Last year, the event raised $8,000 for the center, Goddard said.
The group used to set off the fireworks from a barge in the Penobscot River, but that’s no longer an option because it costs too much to rent the ship.
“In past years when we did the barge, we had a company that was coming up this way anyway, so they didn’t mind doing it for us,” Goddard said. “That company no longer has ties to this area, so we’d have to pay them to do that. Unfortunately, that was way too expensive — to the tune of about $50,000.”
In 2022, the Bangor Symphony Orchestra performed in the Maine Savings Amphitheater during the fireworks display, but the fireworks launched from the waterfront weren’t visible from within the concert venue.
“It was $30,000 to have the orchestra there, but when no one could see the fireworks in the venue, everyone left and the orchestra was playing to no one,” Goddard said.
Last July, organizers opted to move the fireworks staging area to Bass Park to have enough room for a much larger display that they were told would rise above the amphitheater’s walls. While the rockets rose higher, they didn’t clear the top of the amphitheater walls and stage, disappointing spectators inside the venue.
“The concert venue has been built up so much, which is great, but it creates some obstacles,” Goddard said.
The fireworks will top off a day full of events that will begin with a pancake breakfast honoring veterans at Jeff’s Catering in Brewer at 7 a.m. Tickets to the breakfast are $15, but veterans and first responders are free.
The 43rd Annual Walter Hunt Fourth of July 3K Road Race will begin at 9:45 a.m. Registration for the race is $15. Runners will begin at the Brewer Auditorium on Wilson St. and travel along the parade route, ending in downtown Bangor.
The Fourth of July parade will begin at 10 a.m., also at the Brewer Auditorium, and march down Union St., over the Joshua Chamberlain Bridge, and turn onto Main St. in Bangor before ending on Exchange St.
