Decatur Postpones July 4th Events Until September
Decatur Metro | July 3, 2013From the City’s Katie Abel…
The City of Decatur has decided to postpone our Independence Day events and celebrations in light of the unfavorable weather forecast for July 4th. But never fear! We will host our Faux Fourth Celebration on Saturday September 28th with a Pied Piper Parade, Concert on the Square, and Fireworks! So just put those red, white, and blue decorations back in the attic for a few months and we’ll see you on the Square in September.
Have a safe and happy 4th of July!
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Given the political leanings of most in Decatur, wouldn’t it make more sense to move it to May 1?
I kid, I kid. Bummer about the weather.
Yippee! The weather is so much nicer then!
All right! Now we get to celebrate… Thursday. :-\
Tomorrow is looking like a good day to hole up with a book, movies, or to binge on tv episodes.
Now, we can all agree on that!
The Peachtree Road Race is (so far) still on. Gonna get seriously wet. Kinda like we did at the Tour DeCatur!
Why September? They postponed them for months once before as well. Anyone know why that is? Seems like next week would be better, right? Hmm.
I think the city likes to give enough notice so people have a chance plan to be there. I’m happy about the better weather in Sept! Plus Roxie Watson is the band for concert on the square9/28, so that is going to be a great night out!
Roxie Watson plus fireworks plus cooler weather? I’m delighted!
In the past it was moved to coincide with the Decatur Book Festival, which I kind of liked. This seems a bit more random. Also, we have plans to be out of town that weekend, so kind of bummed as these were to be our kids’ first fireworks.
That happened one year and caused way too much confusion. The last time the 4th was postponed, which I think was 2 or 3 years ago, they also moved it to the last Saturday in September.
Avondale fireworks rescheduled to 8/31- hope that works out for the kiddos.
I think that was the first year of the book festival and the fireworks were a nice punctuation point for the conclusion of a new Decatur festival. One of the biggest challenges of including the fireworks had to do with street closures. One set for the festival, another, albeit overlapping, for the fireworks fall-out zone. You may have been wanting to attend an author presentation late in the day, not interested in the fireworks, and then been held hostage because you were unable to retrieve your car from the fall-out zone. And there are different (additional) requirements for public safety when you combine the events.
I’m sure it’s not impossible to stage the simultaneous events effectively, but it’s a strain on limited resources.
But, hey, there’s so much great stuff planned for the book festival, you won’t have time for fireworks! And I look forward to sitting in my lawn chair in September, listening to Roxie Watson, and then enjoying the fireworks.
May have to do with city worker staffing and event schedules.
It does seem better, Angela, until you think about the logistics involved. You need to reschedule the overtime assignments for police, sanitation and event support; update your liability insurance which is date-specific; give local businesses more than a week’s notice of street closings; make sure there is no conflict with other planned events, especially at the Old Courthouse; hire a band on short notice; coordinate with all of the beloved sponsors to their satisfaction; and, of course, check for the availability of the fireworks company producing the event. All the while hoping that the bad weather doesn’t linger for a week. And probably lots of other things that we don’t have to think about because someone else does think about.
It would not be impossible to build a date plus one week clause into many of those contracts, but I think it would strain the resources of the presenters (that is, cost more money.)
I, for one, have entered the September concert and fireworks into my calendar and am looking forward to it.
Thanks for the explanation, Parker. You and others who are linchpins of Decatur’s festivals make them happen so smoothly and seamlessly, it’s easy for the rest of us to overlook the mind-boggling logistics that go into these annual events we love so much.
Personally, I don’t think there have been any good Independence Day movies (please no one mention “Independence Day “), but I can think of a few good movies that prominently feature fireworks. “Blow Out” comes to mind as a favorite, but the fireworks are used ironically in that cynical political thriller.
Any great fireworks scenes you can think of, DM readers?
Babe
love, american style
one of my favorite opening scenes of all time, and the fireworks at 3:04 ain’t too bad either
Good one. I’d forgotten about the fireworks.
Favorite movie AND favorite fireworks scene in a movie.
Did postponing until Sunday, when the weather looks better, not make more sense. At least September 28th is close to Mexican independence day.
will not allow this postponement to dampen my celebration of the 4th, so, per my tradition, am rocking it sans boxers today.
##independenceday
#thrilled2Bfree