ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. — Red Hot & Boom is scheduled to take place July 3 at Cranes Roost Park in Altamonte Springs for the first time in two years.
The city canceled the event the last two years because of the coronavirus pandemic.
However, this year the event returns for a key milestone as the city celebrates Red Hot & Boom’s 25th year.
It was canceled at the last minute last year after the Delta variant surged in Central Florida.
Billed as Central Florida’s biggest fireworks display, city officials say the show will go on this year, no matter what.
“This year, although Omicron is spreading, and it’s still a very high concentration in Central Florida, the health outcome is not as bad,’ Altamonte Springs City Manager Frank Martz said. “So we’re planning on having the show this year.”
The city initially started holding the event as a way to teach people how to find Altamonte Springs.
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Now, 150,000 people are expected to fill the Cranes Roost Park amphitheater and streets with another hundred thousand watching from afar.
Jason Herrera is a Central Florida resident who says not having the event the last two years has been bizarre.
“It’s so huge, and so many people are always here. Families make it a tradition,” Herrera said. “I think it’s great that it’s coming back finally.”
Martz says the economic impact of the event is negligible, but the importance this year is to unite a divided country.
“It’s really about community, and it’s about our country, and about coming together as a people,” Martz said. “We have a lot of things that divide us these days, but great fireworks unites everyone.”
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The Red Hot & Boom silver anniversary celebration will also feature musical acts including The Walters, Sofia Carson, and Central Florida’s own American Idol contestant Alyssa Raghu.
Red Hot & Boom is free to the public and will take place July 3rd from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m., rain or shine. For more information, click here.
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