Earlier this week, the City of Rising Sun announced higher than normal river levels forced the city to move the Saturday, July 4 Fireworks event to Shiner Park. The following is an update followed by the original press release.

UPDATE- Thursday, July 2, 12:30 pm

The best place to watch the fireworks will be around the high school soccer field. We encourage people to come early to enjoy the entire event starting at 7 pm. In that area, we will have live music by The Side Effects, a great local band that’s always a crowd pleaser, and the Lions Club will be grilling and selling a lot of tasty food and serving up cold drinks. Plus restrooms are also available nearby for everyone’s convenience.

Please note both cars and pedestrians will be prohibited from driving or walking past a barricaded area extending the entire length and beyond the fencing along the first base side of the high school baseball field. Additional barricades will be set up in the dump to prevent vehicles from reaching the youth soccer fields behind the baseball diamond where the fireworks will be launched.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 29, 2015

Due to an unfavorable Ohio River forecast, the Saturday, July 4, 2015 Rising Sun Fireworks event has been moved to the Rising Sun Soccer Fields at Shiner Park.

“As of Monday, the river was expected to go up to 37 feet on Wednesday,” said city marketing coordinator Bryce Kendrick. “Thursday was our drop dead date to get on the riverbank to prep the launch area for the fireworks. There is no chance of that happening based on the forecast and additional rainfall expected this week.”

Kendrick also said shooting the fireworks at street level on the river was not possible.

“We have to meet safety standards from the state fire marshal’s office and the insurance company,” Kendrick noted. “We lose the buffer of the riverbank wall and additional footage at street level and, as a result, we are too close to neighboring structures.”

The new launch site will be familiar to those who have watched past fireworks shows in Rising Sun. The launch area will be located in the youth soccer fields behind left field of the high school baseball diamond.

Despite the change in venue, music and food are still planned from 7 to 10 pm prior to the event. A local four-piece band, The Side Effects, will perform a mix of crowd favorites and the Lions Club will serve hot food and cold drinks.

“Last year, people really enjoyed the music and the food,” recalled Kendrick. “Even though the site has been moved, we hope people will still come early to enjoy some awesome music and good grub!”

The logistics of where the band will be performing and where the food will be served was not finalized as of Monday (when this release was issued). Those details will be available by Thursday online at CityofRisingSun.com and on the city’s Facebook page.

“It’s disappointing we had to move the event after such a great response from being on the river last year,” added Kendrick. “We hope to be back on the river for the show in 2016.”