One of Massachusetts' largest fireworks displays was held Thursday night in Springfield.
The Connecticut River was once again lit up red, white, blue, and a number of other colors as the Star Spangled Springfield fireworks show got underway.
For more than three decades, the private, non-profit Spirit of Springfield corporation has been putting on the 4th of July tradition.
That includes hundreds of colorful explosives being rocketed off the Memorial Bridge, with massive crowds on both banks taking it all in.
“Our mission is to promote community events and encourage civic pride and bring people together in celebration and that's what this is about,” said Judy Matt, president of Spirit of Springfield. “This is bringing people together to celebrate America, and the people here are doing that - they want to be here and they want to have a great time and that's what it's all about.”
Hundreds upon hundreds of firing tubes were prepped ahead of time, firing in sequence as crowds numbering in the thousands gathered in Springfield’s Riverfront Park Thursday night, according to Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno.
In the hours leading up to the dazzling display, entertainment included live music, food, and the occasional Amtrak train traveling between the riverfront and one of the park's main entrances.
The band “Hip Town” played Motown favorites as fireworks fans gathered.
Other guests for the night included sailors assigned to the USS Massachusetts – a Virginia-class nuclear attack submarine slated to be commissioned in 2026.
Mayor Sarno called the gathering a celebration of the nation, community and more.
“Tonight, we come together in celebration – you are shining stars of the goodness of the City of Springfield, western Massachusetts,” Sarno told a crowd gathered in the lower end of the park shortly before the fireworks went off.
104th Fighter Wing Commander and Colonel David Halasi-Kun, of the Massachusetts Air National Guard in nearby Westfield also spoke, detailing how almost 250 years ago, militia forces in Massachusetts were there for the very start of the American Revolution.
The colonel called on those celebrating Thursday to remember those who have served.
“I ask that on this day, and throughout this weekend, you think about the path that this country has gone through to get to where we are - you remember the families, you remember the military service members who have fought, died and bled for this country, and think about the people who are currently deployed into dangerous places away from their families while we're here celebrating this tremendous country that we're able to live and thrive in,” he said.
