SeeCalifornia.com

By D. Stock

California beach towns from Huntington Beach to San Diego to San Francisco will rock you with their all-American Fourth of July fireworks and parade entertainment. When this reporter volunteered to help produce the Biggest 4th of July Parade West of the Mississippi in Huntington Beach, I was tasked with raising $125,000 to pay for the fireworks show over the Huntington Beach Pier. 2005 was the 2nd year they had a beach fireworks show free to the public, and it proved extremely popular. Huntington Beach 4th of July Celebration with Parade and Fireworks Show now attracts close to one million people.  My volunteer assignment became practically a full time job– I quickly found out who past sponsors were and asked them for thousands of dollars, promising them everything from party tickets to prime seats, floats in the parade, banners on Main Street and banners draped over the Huntington Beach Pier.

If you want to see California beaches at their craziest, Huntington Beach 4th of July is the biggest event on the coast. The City Council this year legalized ‘safe & sane’ fireworks so it’s going to be wilder than ever in 2012! The HB 4th of July Parade starts every year at 10 a.m. and goes till around Noon along a 2-mile route on Main Street between Pacific Coast Highway & Gothard. The fireworks show starts shortly after 9 p.m. with displays launched from Huntington Beach Pier. The fireworks show lasts till approx. 9:25 p.m.  Parking requires going early as there are street closures–expect to walk up to a mile or more if you get there late. Other fireworks events, 4th of July celebrations and parades are happening throughout the state!

BIGGEST:

• South Lake Tahoe Lights on the Lake is the biggest synchronized 4th of July fireworks display West of the Mississippi. It starts at 9:30 p.m.
• Fireworks design and theme – The most expensive land display that happens on the 4th of July and most summer days is held at Disneyland in Anaheim.
• Biggest Parade – Huntington Beach 4th of July Parade

CALIFORNIA BEACH TOWNS WITH FIREWORKS  (most shows are at 9 p.m.)

• San Diego Bay, bigbayboom.com
• Newport Beach Dunes, newportdunes.com
• Huntington Beach Pier   hb4thofjuly.org
• Long Beach,   queenmary.com
• Redondo Beach Pier, redondofireworks.com
• Marina del Rey,  beaches.lacounty.gov
• Santa Barbara fireworks at West Beach
  santabarbaraca.gov/Visitor/Things/Waterfront/July_4_in_Santa_Barbara.htm
• Pismo Beach Pier, pismochamber.com
• Sausalito at Gabrielson Park,  ci.sausalito.ca.us/Index.aspx?page=946
• San Francisco fireworks show over the bay,  pier39.com/Events/
• Eureka Bay, launches off barge near Woodley Island at 10 p.m.