Fireworks will be lighting the skies this Friday for Independence Day.
Those beautiful displays can be expensive, costing communities tens of thousands of dollars.
Minocqua businesses and organizations stepped up to cover those costs this year.
The Town of Minocqua went to voters three times asking to raise the tax levy to help meet the rising costs the town was facing.
While they eventually passed a referendum last year, it wasn’t enough to fully cover the 2025 budget, so some things were cut including the cost of the Fourth of July Fireworks.
Minocqua Area Visitor’s Bureau President & CEO Krystal Westfahl says there was already a contract signed with the company that puts on the firework display, meaning they needed to come up with roughly $25,000.
“It took a while for us to get to the funding needs that we needed to cover the cost of the fireworks, but we have some really great community supporters that were able to come out this year and be able to help support it for this year. We're very thankful to them,” said Westfahl.
Local businesses stepped up to help cover those costs including Lakeland Fitness, Minocqua Lions’ Club, Minocqua Yacht Club, Gage Marine, and the Minocqua Island Business Association.
Westfahl says they’re working with the community to find a more sustainable solution to funding future firework displays, and she’s confident they’ll figure it out.
“Our community is amazing. The philanthropy that resides here, the community spirit that resides here, and that tradition that resides here is still very strong, and so I think we're going to come to a solution moving forward. I got high hopes,” said Westfahl.
This year’s fireworks will go off as usual near Torpy Park once is gets dark out.
You can view them from both the land and water.
“It's a really unique location. You can be basically all around the island in a boat. If you can see the blue water tower, you can see the fireworks,” said Westfahl. “It's a great part of the Fourth of July tradition to continue to have fireworks.”
You can find a map of the firework viewing areas on the Minocqua Area Visitor’s Bureau website.
