Lights on the Lake Fireworks Display

Between 75,000 and 100,000 people visit Lake Tahoe to celebrate Independence Day with Lights on the Lake Fireworks. Lake Tahoe’s Fourth of July celebration features the largest fireworks display west of the Mississippi. Since it is crowded, a good plan is to stake out your spot on the beach by late afternoon. Terrific viewpoints are Lakeview Commons/El Dorado Beach in South Lake Tahoe and Nevada Beach in between Stateline and Zephyr Cove. Area officials advise viewers to plan ahead, consider alternative modes of transportation and take all trash/belongings when the show concludes.

Make it an experience in old-fashioned Americana: Pack a picnic. Bring your family and friends. Watch the sun slip behind the peaks of Desolation Wilderness. The alpenglow illuminates the ridges. Finally, Lake Tahoe shimmers from a waning crescent moon watched over by bright planets Venus and Jupiter. Then the spectacle of lights and colors begins!

Tips for Viewing

The fireworks are set to music, tune into KRLT radio by 9:45 pm. The show is shot from three barges anchored near the Stateline area of Lake Tahoe. Loading the barges with more than 3,500 shells is executed by hand and is true muscle-straining work. Following the Fourth, a specially outfitted boat with divers and a clean-up crew recover any debris. The fireworks are designed to oxidize and much of the debris collected falsl from private boats or washes from the beach.

As we anticipate this year’s show, we hope for calm winds; a fun, safe experience for visitors and locals; a show that will dazzle all ages. I look forward to watching the sky cascade in light and color and listening to Ray Charles’ silky delivery of America the Beautiful as I am reminded that fireworks are the simulation of munitions and warfare. Our country and the freedom and prosperity we have was paid for by brave men and women who fought, struggled, and sacrificed their lives to form and to preserve our country. We are so fortunate!