RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — Fourth of July in Raleigh looked a little different this year as the city’s firework show was hosted at the Lenovo Center for the first time in three years.
The show was previously held at Dix Park, but this year, the City of Raleigh wanted the show to be focused on the fireworks.
They did not host any events or vendors as the crowds themselves set up extravagant tailgates with food.
“We’ve got burgers, hotdogs to put on the grill, we’ve got some macaroni salad, cantaloupe watermelon,” Jennifer Rothar said.
Others chose to pass the time by playing football, cornhole and even hockey in the parking lot of the Lenovo Center.
CBS17 got a behind the scenes look at the set up three days prior to the show. The pyrotechnics crew showed us the ropes and CBS17’s Haylee Kennedy even got to put some of the fireworks in their coded slot.
After each firework is carefully set in its slot, they are wired to an electric system so they can go off with just a click of a button.
When the fireworks went off Friday night, all eyes were on the sky as the crowds cheered for their favorite part of the holiday.
The city expected 25,000 people to attend this years celebration. After the show, traffic lined bumper to bumper as people waited to go home.
