Officials in both Peoria and East Peoria are hopeful that this year’s Red, White & Boom fireworks show can help bring people together, as America celebrates its 250th birthday on the Fourth of July.
Peoria Mayor Rita Ali said during a news conference Wednesday promoting the yearly riverfront tradition, celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2026, that the show is something that brings people on both sides of the river together.
“It takes us to a new level of celebrating our history,” Ali said. “We are bringing together a diversity of people from all walks of life, families and children. We all look different, we all talk different, different languages, different cultures, different values, but we’re all coming together in unity for America.”
Her counterpart across the river in East Peoria, John Kahl, pleaded with people to leave their divisions behind on the Fourth and have fun enjoying the fireworks.
“You see the volumes of people down there and we’re there for a common thing, right?” Kahl said. “To enjoy one of the greatest fireworks displays ever. I’d take what we have here over any other.”
Organizers of Red, White and Boom are promising a show that’s bigger and better than past shows, with brand new effects such as more vibrant strobes made in Italy and an intense grand finale, all choreographed to music played on the many stations of Midwest Communications, which has helped to organize and sponsor the even since the very beginning.
“The grand finale is going to be really cool,” said Mike Wild, vice president and general manager of Midwest Communications. “The last 30 seconds in particular is going to be really intense. In the last few seconds of the show alone, there’s going to be 600 shells exploding in the air. It’s a lot and it’s going to be really intense.”
The show is scheduled to start at 9:30 p.m., with entertainment beginning at 5 p.m. Organizers are partnering with the Illinois Air National Guard to provide a flyover of a C-130H Hercules aircraft from the 182nd Airlift Wing based out of General Wayne A. Downing Peoria International Airport prior to the show. Wild said the guard only had two of those aircraft still in operation at their base, having prepared for a future without them in the past year.
“There’s not too many people left to fly them because everybody that’s been to (C-130) J school can’t go backwards and fly the old plane,” Wild said. “So, it was a process of trying to make sure we’re going to have planes and have people to fly them. The 182nd, those guys are so easy and so great to work with because they want to be a part of this show. They want to demonstrate their support to the community, too, and they found a way to make this work.”
Security measures for Peoria fireworks show
With an expectation of over 200,000 people watching the show on both sides of the river, security was of utmost concern for municipal officials, with police and fire chiefs from both Peoria and East Peoria pledging their support to help with ensuring the annual event goes off safely. Peoria police Chief Brad Dixon said that designated entry areas would be present to provide safety, with bags being checked and metal detectors present at those locations.
“We anticipate moving people very quickly and safely through these security checkpoints,” Dixon said. “Overall, we want the experience to be the same. We just want it to be safe for every person who comes down here, and I think we have some common sense security measures that we’ve implemented for the safety of everybody.”
East Peoria chief David Catton spotlighted community involvement in their safety plan, saying that they would post a detailed map and plan the week before the show. He pointed out that they had tried something similar last year and got good feedback from the community.
“It does take about an hour, hour-and-a-half to clear that area down there,” Catton said. “But if we have them look at that plan and see which way they want to go out before they go down there, that will really help us.”
Peoria fire chief Shawn Sollberger said that an event with the scale of Red, White & Boom does lead to some challenges, also noting that a successful event would come without much mention of them or their counterparts across the river.
“The coordination efforts that are required for us to create a safe area for community members, families (and) friends to participate, we’d like to say that if they did not see us or experience us, we did our job,” Sollberger said. “Now, that comes with some astronomical challenges on our end.”
East Peoria fire Chief Robert Zimmerman asked that people coming to the event be patient, particularly as the Cedar Street Bridge will remain closed for repairs over the Fourth of July weekend.
“Just take your time, have fun and if you follow all the rules and see the safety measures in place, everybody’s going to be able to come and have a good time,” Zimmerman said.
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Peoria’s riverfront fireworks aim for bigger show, enhanced security in 2026
Reporting by Zach Roth, Peoria Journal Star / Journal Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Zach Roth, Peoria Journal Star | USA TODAY Network
