Bel Air fireworks likely to fly rain or shine, says committee president

According to Bel Air resident Mark Hofmann's weather station, July 4th offers a chance of thunderstorms and a 50% chance of rain along with a high of 85 degrees and a low of 67. That means the fireworks show will likely go on as scheduled at 9:30 p.m. in Rockfield Park. After last year's pre-fireworks thunderstorms that sent hundreds of readers (thank you!) to this blog searching for information on whether the fireworks would be canceled, I decided to touch base with the organizers and exchange phone numbers ahead of time. Long time Bel Air Independence Day Committee President Don Stewart told me this morning that a little rain and even a threatening thunderstorm probably won't keep the sparks from flying. He's says once some 40,000 people are in place to see the show, it's pretty hard to get the word out about last minute changes. They're more likely to simply go on with the show and figure the audience is responsible for trying to keep themselves dry. He says the fire marshal is the one who ultimately makes the call on whether the show will go on. And he says the fire marshal tends to prefer a little wet weather when explosives are igniting. Of last year's stormy fireworks display, Stewart says, "It was like nature was fighting back. It was kind of fun to watch the man made and natural fireworks exchanging blows." BANV & family watched from inside our minivan. If weather does interfere enough to cause a cancellation, the rain date for the fireworks is Saturday at 9:30 p.m.

Click here for previous BANV posts on Bel Air's July 4th festivities.

Click here for the Bel Air Independence Day Committee's schedule of events.

If you want to see what last year's Bel Air fireworks were like, someone posted this video of them on YouTube. (If it rains Friday and you don't want to get wet, you can sit home and just watch this video.)