The Lycoming County Fairgrounds-owned property in Hughesville will be the host site of the 25th Annual Backyard Broadcasting’s Set the Night to Music Fireworks Celebration.

Backyard Broadcasting General Manager and CEO Van Michael has confirmed that the fireworks are set for display at 9:30-9:40 p.m. (estimated timeframe) on Saturday, July 4.

The celebration marking the nation’s 250th birthday will have no vendors and no entertainment as they had before at the downtown Williamsport site.

The radio station began promoting the new location of its quarter-century Set The Night to Music Fireworks Celebration on Monday, June 1. The location of the event was shared by a member of the public at the recent Lycoming County commissioners’ meeting.

“We will have our large display originate from Lycoming Fairgrounds property with a majority of the parking lots open for the viewing of the show,” Michael said.

“With the City of Williamsport not allowing the display to be launched from Williamsport this year, I set out to find another venue with large parking areas for the public to view from,” he said.

The station had many guidelines it had to meet for the size of the show, as the shells are 8-inch in diameter.

Additionally, Zambelli Fireworks company asked for an 800 foot radius of no people, open roads or occupied buildings or structures.

“That is a challenge,” Michael acknowledged.

“FAMvest, owners of The District, were very open to doing whatever they could and I tried to make something fit there, but I could not,” he said, adding, “So, my attention turned back to the fairgrounds.”

During the year of COVID 19, Backyard Broadcasting launched from inside the fairgrounds.

This year the start of the Lycoming County Fair is the Wednesday following July 4, so there will be vendors, rides providers loading in over the holiday, so the shooting off of the fireworks must be done from fair property behind the fairgrounds, he said.

“We also had several sponsors that withdrew their support, citing the loss of the downtown event and associated crowd,” Michael noted.

“Luckily, we were able to replace the sponsors that pulled out with some very community-minded sponsors that were determined to assure the public would have a display on the nation’s 250th birthday,” he said.

The fairgrounds, themselves, will not be open to the public like they were during the pandemic.

Both fair parking lots will be opening at 7 p.m. and will be the viewing area for the display.

“We anticipate the start of the display will be at 9:30 p.m. (or shortly after, with estimated timeframe) and with the soundtrack airing on Backyard Broadcasting radio stations,” he said.