Bristol holds fireworks display despite weather concerns

BRISTOL, R.I. (WLNE) — People travel from hours away for Bristol’s Fourth of July events and visitors were on edge all day Monday as fireworks were canceled all across Rhode Island.

The fireworks began around 9:30 p.m. Monday night, so visitors had all day to worry if the festivities would actually kick off.

Visitors from all over told ABC 6 News about their concerns.

“We wanted to get here a little bit early, just in case. worse comes to worse, if it rains, we still got out of the house. and we got some good food,” says Acushnet resident Darran Costa.

Events all across Rhode Island were canceled or rescheduled ahead of predicted thunderstorms Monday night and that possibility kept some people from coming out as early as they might have done normally.

Michael Sarracino, a Bristol native and resident of Kentucky who’s been coming for decades, told ABC 6 there was never any real concern.

“They’ve done it in 105, [degrees] they’ve done it in 80-mile-per-hour winds, they’ll never cancel it,” Sarracino said.

“No matter what happens, they will not cancel it,” he continued, saying he drove from Kentucky for this year’s festivities.

The crowd didn’t fill out until right before the show began, but some were still picking spots six hours ahead of time.

“Bristol and Warren, they pack this place, and of course, the influx of people coming in for the bands, the parade tomorrow, everybody visiting family, it just — it’s crazy,” said Warren native Rebecca Morris.

“We’ve been to every single concert, and sometimes we couldn’t find sitting room, so I knew, with the chance of rain, it may or may not happen. But I just decided to get here early, and it looks like we are going to have them tonight which is nice,” Morris concluded.