Boston Pops prepare for annual 4th of July show with rain in the forecast
BOSTON — The large-scale effort to set up a Fourth of July celebration on Boston's Charles River Esplanade continued Monday, despite the looming threat of thunderstorms.
The Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular attracts hundreds of thousands of people every year. With rain a possibility in the forecast, Boston Pops conductor Keith Lockhart told reporters there is a contingency plan.
The Pops recorded their dress rehearsal performance on Monday in the event that July 4 is a washout.
"Well, I could say that I wasn't concerned about the weather but that would by lying," Lockhart said, "The Hatch Shell is only about half covered so if it's actually pouring rain on the instruments, you remember that all of those string instruments at the front of the orchestra are actually made out of wood."
Lockhart said this is his 28th time putting on the show and there has only been one rainout.
Roughly 5,000 fireworks are also ready for the Independence Day celebration. Matt Shea, a designer for fireworks company Pyrotecnico said rain will not impact the show but cloud cover could be an issue.
"As far as the cloud ceiling, we're going to be looking for something about 1,500 feet. And that will be able to accommodate the 8-inch shells which go 800-1,000 feet," Shea said, "Regardless of the weather situation, as far as we're concerned, we'll be able to shoot the fireworks display."
Gates open Tuesday at noon, the Pops perform at 8 p.m. and the fireworks are scheduled for 10:30 p.m.
A couple of communities did postpone their Fourth of July celebrations because of the stormy forecast.
Andover, Gloucester, Lynn and Swampscott have all postponed their fireworks shows scheduled for Monday night. Lynn and Swampscott have been rescheduled to July 5, Andover will now have fireworks on July 6 and Gloucester's celebration has been moved to July 8.