“We love our fireworks, and we love to celebrate,” Biloxi businessman Jerry Munro says of the three fireworks shows coming up to mark the Fourth of July in Biloxi.
The shows, for the record: Sunday, 9 p.m., over Back Bay between IP and Scarlet Pearl casino resorts; Tuesday, post-game Biloxi Shuckers Independence Day Fireworks Extravaganza at MGM Park; and Wednesday, the Fourth of July, 9 p.m., fireworks off the Biloxi beachfront.
And you can whet your appetite for pyrotechnics tonight at MGM Park when the Biloxi Shuckers present their Friday night fireworks, after a game with the Mobile BayBears.
It’s not just about quantity of the shows, it’s about quality, says Munro, who since 2009 has followed in the footsteps of his father, the late Tommy Munro, who founded the Boom-Boom Committee in the ’70s when the city was short of funding.
“We have the largest fireworks between Atlanta and Baton Rouge,” Munro says. “That means here in Biloxi we offer the largest fireworks show in the Southeastern United States. It’s a $40,000, 18-minute show that pays real tribute to our country, and it says that we are proud of our Armed Forces.”
The fireworks, which are fired from a barge just inside Deer Island, have come a long way since that year in the ’80s when the committee, which handled everything itself, inadvertently set off all the charges at once and set the west end of Deer Island on fire.
“That’s when we quit doing it ourselves and hired a professional fireworks company,” Munro said with a chuckle. “It’s spectacular. It’s all electronically-fired, by computerized, and set to music on FM 105.9, The Bob.”
Best viewing location for the Fourth of July show: On the beach between the Biloxi Small Craft Harbor and Oak Street, where the city has established a fireworks-free zone for spectators.
News & Notes: City Desk; Blood drive; Weekend preview
City Desk: The City Desk podcast, recorded Thursday morning at Biloxi City Hall, this week focused on announcement of the state’s approval for an expansion at Margaritaville Biloxi and a recap of happenings. To listen to the podcast, click here.
Red Cross Blood Drive: The largest blood drive in the southeast wraps up this evening with at 9 p.m. at the Mississippi Coast Convention Center. To see more information, click here.
Weekend preview: The Biloxi Shuckers continue their homestand with the Mobile BayBears; Gallery 782 hosts its Nifty Fifty Raffle; Penn & Teller will perform at the Beau Rivage; Air Supply will be at the IP; and Theresa Caputo will be at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. To see a complete weekend lineup, click here.
