Favorite Fireworks for the Fourth

Here are our choices for dazzling pyrotechnic displays around the country heralding Independence Day

When the United States celebrates its birthday this Fourth of July, skies will explode with cascading colors from coast to coast. From backyard to beach, from border to border, the lights in the sky are guaranteed to light up your grandchildren’s eyes.

Julia Heckman, executive director of the American Pyrotechnics Association, says the States' residents explode about 280 million pounds of fireworks a year. About 75 percent of the nation's annual fireworks are ignited during the weekend of the Fourth of July.

Here are some fireworks shows worth a special trip.

Biggest
The Big Apple boasts the Biggest Birthday Bash in the Sky, with the 32nd Annual Macy's 4th of July Fireworks over New York City. This year’s extravaganza, America Dances, will have 55 times more fireworks than the average U.S. fireworks show. More than 1,000 shells a minute, fired from barges in the East River, will flare in careful sync to the New York Pops' music. If you can't see all 120,000 bursts in person, you and the family can tune in to NBC.

Largest Land-Based Fireworks
Head to Houston if you want to see a show billed as the largest fireworks show over land. The eyes of Texas will be looking up at the fireworks spectacular, Freedom Over Texas. The celebration at Eleanor Tinsley Park includes country music stars Sara Evans, Miranda Lambert, and Jo Dee Messina, NASCAR autos, and an All-American Kid's Zone with magicians, a henna-tattoo artist, and clowns to entertain the grandchildren.

Food and Fireworks
Chicago offers fantastic fireworks and one of the largest outdoor food festivals in the world at Grant Park. Check out the sensational Taste of Chicago, with days of diverse eating and a fireworks feast on July 3. Melrose Pyrotechnics, first-place winners of the 2006 Montreal International Fireworks Competition, will produce the exuberant, colorful display.

Rodeo and Fireworks
The Greeley, Colo., Stampede bills itself as the "World's Largest 4th of July Rodeo and Western Celebration." Along with the fireworks, the Stampede features a demolition derby, Western art show, fiddle contest, longhorn parade, kids rodeo, and petting zoo, all at Island Grove Park.

Monumental Fireworks
The fireworks bursting in air over the Washington Monument, make the District of Columbia the patriotic epicenter for the nation's birthday party. Special events for the public are planned at the National Mall, Constitution Avenue, and the National Archives. Taylor Hicks, winner of American Idol, Huey Lewis & the News, Jerry Lee Lewis, and the National Symphony Orchestra will perform, with Jimmy Smits hosting the broadcast. View the fireworks from the West Lawn, rooftop restaurants, and a cruise boat on the Potomac.

Face the Fireworks
The presidential profiles of Mount Rushmore, S.D., offer another great patriotic setting for celebrating the nation's 232nd birthday. A 28-minute pyrotechnic entertainment will explode over the massive sculpture on July 3 after military flyovers, a traditional parade, and festivals.

Historic
Lantern lights in a Boston church tower signaled colonial resistance to the British in 1775. Now Boston celebrates America's independence with the Pops orchestra playing Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture on the Charles River Esplanade as 20,000 pounds of explosives light up the skies. Fireworks devices from Portugal, Spain, China, Japan, and Italy will enrich the display. This year, 10-inch shells will be fired 1,500 feet high as part of the most complex Boston Pops-Fireworks show yet.

Disney’s Dazzling Display
The skies of Orlando, Fla., will light up with a Walt Disney World Resort triple-hitter: Disney-MGM Studios, Epcot, and the Magic Kingdom all provide grand shows. This year, a thousand immigrants will become American citizens in front of Cinderella’s Castle for the first time, and Gloria Estefan will sing the National Anthem.

Bowled Over
The famous Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., hosts an aerial extravaganza that lives up to the championship arena. Five of the country's best Drum and Bugle Corps will be performing this year at a show honoring the U.S. military.

Lights on the Lake
More than 100,000 people flock to Lake Tahoe each year to watch the fireworks reflected in the water. You can view the show from a paddle wheeler, Nevada beaches, or the California shoreline. This show has been rated one of the top five in the nation by the American Pyrotechnics Society.

No Place Like Home
Perhaps the best place to celebrate is right in your own hometown. Help the grandchildren decorate their bikes for the local parade, pack a picnic (and bug spray), and head for the nearest fireworks display. There's nothing like lazing on the grass with your family, friends, and neighbors, ooh-ing and aah-ing at the confetti, pinwheels, falling stars, blooms, and explosions of color in the sky overhead.