MADISONVILLE, KY (WFIE) -
The City of Madisonville is hosting their own fireworks on Wednesday night. In fact, it's just one of the events featured during the second annual 4th fest.
The 4th Fest is now a week long event, and tonight the city is expecting a much bigger crowd compared to last year.
On Wednesday, crews worked to prepare for the biggest night of this year's 4th Fest, something city officials say was a learning experience a year ago.
"We were caught a little bit off guard by how popular it was, but we are very prepared this year with everything from food vendors, to fireworks, to safety," said Parks Superintendent Chris Taylor.
Last year the event was just a few days long, but Mayor David Jackson says he wanted to make it even bigger.
"We wanted to develop a signature event for the City of Madisonville and this is such a patriotic community that we thought the 4th Fest was just a really good fit," Mayor Jackson said.
The week has already included a Tradewater Pirates baseball game and movie night. The rest of the week includes a handful of activities including a concert with food vendors tonight, the Friday Night Live Concert Series and a disc golf tournament.
"We really tried to look at something that would appeal to the whole population and give them a good reason to stay home," Mayor Jackson said.
But what's the 4th of July without fireworks?
The personal ban on lighting them is still in effect throughout the county, but Taylor says the public show at the city park is still on for tonight.
"Everybody's excited. I wish I had a nickel for every person that asked me if it was going to happen or not. We're going to be as safe as possible. The fire department is going to be staffed heavily out here as well as a lot of other safety personnel," Taylor said.
"We just feel like fireworks is an important park of 4th of July so we're glad to have the city fireworks going," Mayor Jackson said.
Tonight's firework show starts around 9:00 p.m. To see a list of more events during 4th Fest, click here.
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