Lights on the Lake Fireworks Display

Somewhere between 75,000 and 100,000 people will visit Lake Tahoe to celebrate our nation’s Independence Day with Lights on the Lake Fireworks, the largest fireworks display west of the Mississippi. Since it is crowded, a good plan is to stake out your piece of the beach by late afternoon or early evening. 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… the azure velvet of dusk… and finally, Lake Tahoe shimmering from a waning crescent moon watched over by bright planets Venus and Jupiter. Then the spectacle of lights and colors begins!

The fireworks are set to music, so be sure to have KRLT radio ready 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. The days after the show are spent on clean-up by a specially outfitted boat to recover surface flotsam and jetsam, and divers collect debris from the Lake bottom. Interestingly, the fireworks are designed to oxidize and much of the debris collected has actually fallen off private boats or washed off a 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 my nine-year-old son as much as the computer games he thrives on, and more – a show that builds a foundation of appreciation for American traditions. 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!

Wishing all a very special, fun, safe Independence Day!