TULSA -- Tuesday night, the sky of Tulsa will be lit up by more than 6,000 fireworks.
The Fourth of July celebration in Tulsa will start off with the National Anthem, followed by a fly over from the Air National Guard. Ryan Howell, events coordinator for the River Parks Authority, said then will have people jump out of a plane and parachute down into the festival grounds.
“The fact that we’ve been able to do this show for 41 years really shows how much Tulsa loves and comes together for this event,” Howell said.
There will be food trucks and bouncy castles set up at both the River West Festival Park and Veterans Park to keep guests busy while they wait for the firework show to begin.
“Because we fire them so high in the air, I mean we are shooting them 500 or 600 feet in the air,” Howell said. “You feel like you are underneath them.”
Howell said at least 2,000 of the 6,000 shells will be fired off in the finale alone. They expect the show to last between 20 and 25 minutes.
“When they explode and that reverberation hits you and you see that spark in the sky, it’s a really cool experience,” Howell said.
River Parks is expecting about 80,000 people to enjoy the show.
“I’ve talked to countless people who have told me they are going to watch the show from rooftops in downtown or they are going to go out on their balcony in one of the really cool apartments across the way,” Howell said.
Each year, River Parks tries to bring something new to its Fourth of July spectacular.
This year, guests will be able to challenge their friends to an American Ninja Warrior type obstacle course at the River West Festival Park.
“We’ve got a ladder wall you’ve got to go over,” David Mainprize, owner of Conquer the Gauntlet, said. “We’ve got a rig with the different ninja warrior grips. We’ve got monkey bars we’ve got set up. We’ve got a little balance challenge, things like that. A sandbag carry.”
Mainprize said most adults should be able to successfully complete about 90 percent of the challenges they have set up. Even if someone chooses to just watch, he said it should be entertaining.
“There’s going to be a lot of spectators I’m sure watching people fall and take biffs and fails and what not, so it will be hilarious,” Mainprize said. “Hopefully we will get a good lively crowd going on.”
There will be two courses set up — one for kids and one for adults — that people can try out for a fee.
Festivities are set to kick off at 5 p.m.
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