Fireworks proceed in Minneapolis after daytime rain showers clear out

Call it a Fourth of July miracle.

After a day of heavy rains, the sun peeked out early Thursday evening and the Red, White, and Boom event in Minneapolis was back on track.

“I kept checking Facebook, trying to see if they are going to be on, and they said they’re going,” laughed Jenai Brazell of Richfield. “And I said, ‘Let’s go, it’s time to go.’”

There was dancing and live music at Mill Ruins Park after the city’s announcement that the fireworks show would go on.

Fourth of July forecast causing some cities to reschedule or cancel fireworks

“When it cleared up, we decided to come down, get some food, listen to some music,” says Brittany Bennett, who lives nearby.

Bennett and her toddler son, Aiden, looked ready to celebrate the nation’s birthday.

“Hopefully, it stays clear and people get to enjoy the fireworks,” she said. “It’d be a big letdown if it didn’t happen.”

But earlier in the day the prospects for a successful fireworks show didn’t look so good.

Vendors busied themselves getting their food trucks ready in case the weather cleared.

Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board workers on the riverfront tried to stay positive.

“The weather, you can’t control Mother Nature,” declared Sammy Vazquez, a lemonade vendor.

There was water, water everywhere, it seemed — a super-soaker that put a damper on the holiday mood.

“Disappointing. You know, it’s Independence Day, everybody wants to see — hopefully, we see some fireworks tonight,” said Andy Long, an equipment operator with Minneapolis parks.

But remember the poem on the Statue of Liberty?

“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses …”

A day we celebrate our independence and freedom is perhaps also a day of miracles.

“I heard the fireworks are amazing. I’m excited to see what happens tonight,” said Meredith Jolin, visiting from Charlotte, North Carolina.

Fireworks mirrored over the Mississippi — an evening of patriotism and joy replacing a day of gloomy weather.

“Seeing all the food trucks, seeing everybody out, it’s a good sense of community here,” said Jolin’s husband, Kevin.