Fort Vancouver Has Already Cancelled Its Annual July 4 Fireworks Spectacular, for the Second Year in a Row

In order for the 2021 Independence Day show to happen, it needed to let the fireworks vendor know what its plans were by the end of January.

By Andi Prewitt

Our hopes for a halfway normal summer have already been dashed.

The Historic Trust announced this week that it has canceled what would have been the 58th Annual Vancouver Fireworks Spectacular on July 4 at Fort Vancouver due to COVID-19. This is the second year in a row the pandemic has forced organizers to call off the event.

Long billed as the largest display west of the Mississippi, the Spectacular typically attracts tens of thousands of spectators to the sprawling National Park Service grounds that used to function as a fur trading post just across the river from Portland.

The Trust says that in order for the 2021 Independence Day show to happen, it needed to let the fireworks vendor know what its plans were by the end of January. And since the coronavirus is still rapidly spreading, there was just no way to safely proceed at this time.

"The organization wants to be responsible and ensure the safety and health of the community with canceling the event," a statement read on the Trust's website. "We know this is a tradition in the Portland/Vancouver area. It was a difficult decision. We hope to see all of you next year and celebrate bigger and brighter!"

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