June 5, 2020

Sponsors and a local radio station have stepped up to bring a fireworks display to Sioux Falls this Fourth of July.

This week, the Sioux Falls Jaycees announced the annual fireworks event would not happen in 2020 because of COVID-19 concerns.

Two partners of the nonprofit organization now have announced they will still move forward with a portion of the event. Watertown-based Lew’s Fireworks  has supplied the fireworks for many years, and Sunny Radio has put together and aired the patriotic soundtrack for the fireworks show.

These two have secured sponsors and a different location to shoot off the fireworks, so that portion of the event will still happen July 4.

“We’re excited to work with Lew’s and the sponsors to be able to keep the fireworks portion of the event for 2020” said John Small, owner of Sunny Radio. “It’s really important to us to have this. I think we need it this year more than ever. So many things have been canceled, and I understand that completely, but this can happen the way we’re doing it.”

The fireworks will be shot off from Elmwood Golf Course, and people will be able to view them from their vehicle anywhere in northwest Sioux Falls. A patriotic soundtrack will be played on Sunny 93.3 FM and livestreamed on Facebook.

“As soon as we found out about the change, we started planning on a way to keep the fireworks,” Small said. “Out of respect, we couldn’t call sponsors until the Jaycees made their announcement, so we officially pulled everything together this week and were able to get enough sponsors to ensure the show will happen.”

Returning sponsors include Sunny Radio, Grand Falls Casino & Golf Resort and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. New sponsors for 2020 include Noteboom RV, CarSwap, Big Paws Canine and platinum sponsor MarketBeat.

An event page has been set up at fb.com/SiouxFallsFireworks.