BUCKHANNON – The July 2 Festival Fridays gathering will be a blast with the City of Buckhannon’s annual Fourth of July fireworks display slated to light up local skies the same evening.

The City of Buckhannon has scheduled the Independence Day fireworks show to take place during Create Buckhannon’s Festival Fridays event, which will feature the band, Stonestreet, playing variety and top 40 hits and the regular lineup of local vendors selling West Virginia-grown and produced items.

City recorder and information coordinator Randy Sanders said city officials have not set an exact time the fireworks show will start, but he encouraged everyone to converge on Main Street to enjoy the show around dusk.

“The staging area is behind Walgreens, Premier Bank and Citizens Bank of West Virginia, so as in the past, the best areas to see them are around Walgreens and Community Bank parking areas and you can go back towards the courthouse and Jawbone Park – those are the better parts of the town to see the fireworks,” Sanders said.

Festival Fridays will kick off the same day at 5 p.m., and everyone is welcome to enjoy live music, food, a variety of vendors and the Buckhannon-Upshur Farmers Market.

“The top 40 and variety group, Stonestreet, will be performing hits that we all know and love,” Sanders said. “Come dusk, you should be encouraged to head off to Main Street and head up to this area to see a good show.”

A city press release issued Thursday said Buckhannon mayor Robbie Skinner was excited to announce that following a Festival Fridays hiatus in 2020 due to the pandemic, the fireworks display would once again occur in conjunction with Festival Fridays as it did in 2019.

The release thanked city councilwoman Pam Bucklew, who organizes special events in Buckhannon, and city finance director Amberle Jenkins for working to ensure “this year’s event goes off without a hitch.”

“The public is invited to attend this free event and enjoy all that Festival Fridays has to offer and we encourage them to make their way up onto Main Street at dusk to have a great view of the fireworks display that will be staged behind Walgreens and Premier Bank,” the release said. “Great viewing will be available from many areas of the downtown, particularly around the Upshur County Courthouse, Community Bank, Walgreens, CVS, etc.”

You can find the latest news and information about Buckhannon here and Festival Friday updates on Facebook.