Preparations for Blackfoot Liberty Celebration

The Blackfoot Fourth of July celebration continues to grow every year. This year its tackling something no other show in southeastern Idaho has ever done.

Bingham Memorial Hospital will be lighting the lake on fire. This year, it is launching fireworks off of floating barges from the middle of Jensen’s Grove. Thursday night, a dive team assisted the Parks and Recreation team as it moved the docks from their current position into the middle of the lake.

“This is going to be the biggest show ever in Bingham County,” said Mark Baker, director of marketing and public relations for Bingham Memorial Hospital.

For the first time the fireworks will have a multilayered dimension– large shell fireworks will be launched from land, but the up close and personal fireworks will be set off from three floating docks in the middle of the lake.

“So when he came to me with this pitch of lighting things, fireworks, off the boat docks, I thought, ‘Sure, why not, it’s never been done before,'” said Rafael Jimenez, director of Parks and Recreation.

“We have a great show in Idaho Falls, a good show in Pocatello, and right here in the middle of the region, why another show? I believe Blackfoot is an amazing place,” said Baker. “I think Blackfoot is a great place to raise families, to recreate, and we want people to know they can come to Blackfoot to play.”
The show will be fully synchronized to music, and audio will be broadcast over River Country Radio (96.1 fm & 102.1 fm), throughout the entire park, but the party isn’t just at night, this is an all-day event.

“Every year the Chamber gets called asking if we are going to have a parade for the 4th of July , this year we can actually say yes,” said Tish Dahmen, executive director of the Blackfoot Chamber of Commerce. “We just really want to express what our roots are really all about. So this is going to be about horses, tractors, and of course classic cars.”

“It’s also a great place to raise a family and to do business,” said Dawn Larsen, president of the Blackfoot Chamber of Commerce. “We think the Chamber should be involved in anything that brings people to Blackfoot and keeps them here so that our businesses will thrive.”

There will be 43 different vendors there. The parade will begin at 9 a.m. on Saturday beginning at Highway 91 and traveling down Airport Road to Jensen’s Grove.