The 34th annual Twin City Firecracker Festival held last weekend at Larry G. Crites Memorial Park in Festus did not merely draw good crowds.
They were spectacular, said Barb Lowry, the Festus director of recreation and tourism.
“The attendance was huge. I am going to estimate that Saturday night (June 24), out on the field for the Chris Cagle concert, there were 15,000. I’m going to say total attendance for the weekend was close to 20,000. A typical weekend attendance (at prior Firecracker Festivals), on average, is 10,000 to 12,000.”
Lowry said much of the crowd came from outside the Twin City area.
“I feel we drew a lot of visitors from out of town,” she said. “Chris Cagle drew a huge crowd.”
Country music star Cagle performed on the Crites Park stage, as did his opening act, Nashville performer Jada Vance, and the Friday (June 23) featured act, Trixie Delight.
“The bands all were received very well,” Lowry said.
The festival also offered a variety of other activities, including carnival rides and games, food and craft vendors, a petting zoo, pony rides and a beer tent.
In addition, Hooked on Fishing events were held for youngsters and senior citizens Saturday morning at the Al Brown Lake in the park.
Lowry said the clear skies contributed to making the festival a success.
“It was hot as the devil Saturday during the day,” she said. “But, by Saturday evening, after the sun went down, it became much cooler than it had been during the day. Friday night was beautiful.”
She said relocating the carnival activities from the southern part of the park by the baseball fields to the north side of Old Hwy. A was a popular move.
“This year, we moved the fair across the road,” Lowry said. “We think it went really well and we got a lot of compliments. It was Police Chief Doug Wendel’s request. He felt this would improve safety. He wanted fewer people crossing the street. People will still cross the street to use the parking lot, but not as much.”
For the second year in a row, a fireworks display was held only on Saturday night, instead of having smaller fireworks shows both nights of the event.
“That is how it’s going to go from now on,” Lowry said. “It was a great show. We got compliments on the fireworks show.”
The cities of Festus, Crystal City and the Festus Tourism Commission sponsored the festival.
Now that the festival is over, the city is getting ready for a series of free outdoor movie nights to be held at Crites Park. The Festus Tourism Commission is sponsoring the movie nights, with the first one, “En Canto,” to be held Saturday, July 15, followed by “Elf” on Saturday, July 29, and “Top Gun: Maverick” on Saturday, Aug. 12.
Lowry said the movies will be held near the stage.
“They all start at dusk,” she said.