Star Spangled Springfield held in Riverfront Park

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – The city of Springfield is celebrating the Fourth of July in traditional style with the annual Star Spangled Springfield; a world-class fireworks show and family event.

Since 1991, the Spirit of Springfield has made the Fourth of July a day to remember in the city, offering a night of entertainment and family fun, with fireworks displayed from the Memorial Bridge that can be seen for miles.

Don’t let the sheer beauty of the fireworks display fool you; there are a lot of moving parts and people that go into making this event look seamless and flawless every year. Spirit of Springfield President Judy Matt told 22News crews will be working around the clock up until showtime Thursday night.

“When you see the fireworks go off and… you know, I keep my fingers crossed always until the end because you’re always saying, ‘Is it gonna be OK… are you all good and cool,’ and then take a sigh of relief at the end and when people are saying, ‘Judy, that was great!’ That’s what it’s about really, that’s what we get our satisfaction from,” said Judy.

Chief Pyrotechnician Dave VanBuskirk told 22News that there are a lot of surprises in store for this year’s display.

“They added some more stuff to it from last year, it should be a really good show,” VanBuskirk said. He added that putting the show together is a team effort between pyrotechnicians, Springfield DPW workers, and others. “There’s a lot that goes into staging it, it’s not just pushing buttons.”

For those looking to come to the festivities, which are free, here are a couple of things to keep in mind:

• Festivities at Riverfront Park start at 6:00 P.M., with the fireworks display to go off at 9:30 P.M.
• The Memorial Bridge is closed to all traffic, and will remain so until 11:00 Thursday night.
• The Springfield Police Department will be detouring traffic in and around the Memorial Bridge/Riverfront Park area Thursday night.
• Exits 5A and 5B of I-91 South, and Exit 5 on I-91 North will close at around 7:00 P.M.

22News is proud to be a supporter of Star Spangled Springfield, and our own Jack Wu of the 22News Storm Team will emcee this year’s festivities.

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