February 08, 2025
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Soggy conditions push Ottawa fireworks to July 9

Show postponed from its original July 4 date

By Derek Barichello

Fireworks reflect on the Fox River in downtown Ottawa during the 2019 Independence Day show. Flooding and a waterlogged dike around Ottawa High School have postponed this year's show. (Shaw Local News Network file photo)

Recent heavy rains put a damper on Ottawa’s Independence Day fireworks by postponing them, but the show will go on later in the week.

A combination of river flooding and soft grounds around Ottawa High School are preventing the display from lighting up the sky on Sunday. However, the show will take place in the same week – Ottawa First officials said the new date is Friday, July 9.

Floodwaters already had caused a ripple in some fireworks’ viewers plans. The city of Ottawa warned residents earlier this week that flooding has closed Allen Park on the south side of the Illinois River, which would have prevented residents from watching fireworks from that location.