Fourth of July fireworks: Tuscaloosa holds Celebration on the River

Thousands gathered Thursday night at the Mercedes-Benz Amphitheater for the city's annual Fourth of July celebration.

The Celebration on the River featured activities for kids, a concert by the Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestra inside the amphitheater, followed a fireworks display over the Black Warrior River.

The Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestra played patriotic marches while the 20-minute fireworks display lit up the night sky over the Black Warrior River.

Founding Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestra music director Ransom Wilson, who left Tuscaloosa more than 30 years ago to become a world-renowned flutist, conductor and educator, conducted the Fourth of July pops concert.

The Tuscaloosa native returned home last year to join the University of Alabama School of Music faculty, as the Camilla Huxford Endowed Chair of Orchestral Studies.

Wilson was a last-minute replacement as the pops concert conductor. Stefan Sanders, who has conducted Celebration on the River concerts for the past few years, had a family emergency and was unable to attend.

The amphitheater has hosted the city's Independence Day celebration every year since the amphitheater opened in 2011.

Reach Ken Roberts at ken.roberts@tuscaloosanews.com.