July 4th - Cancelled in Tucson?

Just one month before the celebration of our nation's independence was to take place, the Tucson, Arizona, City Council put out the notice that there would be no fireworks this year. They claimed that the budget just couldn't stand the $34,000 price tag. A bike race the same day (in the morning) costs another $17,000, bringing the entire 4th of July Celebration costs to $51,000. The City Council decided that this was just too much for the city to pay, at least this year.

At the same time, funding for other celebrations remained in place: Juneteenth, The Downtown Parade of Lights, and the Walla Festival (whatever that is) remained untouched, among others. The Mayor of Tucson, in speaking of the decision, made the mistake of saying that the city had looked at the value of the display and that "they all go up at once," as a reason for the decision.

This extraordinary fireworks display had become a fixture on Sentinel Peak, part of the ridge of the Tucson Mountains that hugs the downtown area and figured prominently in the lives of the original Tucsonans, the Tohono O'odham tribe. The name Tucson came from their name for this mountain, which meant 'at the base of the black hill;' this volcanic peak, also known as "A" mountain for the big letter A painted every year on it by University of Arizona students, has been the site of 4^th of July fireworks celebrations since 1984. Earlier locations had included the Pima County Fairgrounds, which proved too far away, and the University of Arizona football stadium, where a mishap with an exploded concession stand and a few misfired shells quashed any further displays.

In the wake of this decision, the old fireworks really broke out among the citizenry of the Old Pueblo. It appears that the inhabitants of Tucson take their celebrations very seriously, and it would not be far off the mark to say that all hell broke loose. Amid calls for the wholesale replacement of City Council members, private funding sources were located the very next day, and the citizens of Tucson can still bring their folding chairs and cold drinks to the Convention Center parking lot and thrill to the rocket's red glare, basking in the fact that, despite these troubled economic times, despite the fact that the rockets do go off all at once, our flag is still there.

Sources: Arizona Daily Star, Wikipedia