Advertisement

Pahrump area residents won't be limited to one fireworks show on the Fourth of July this year.

Pyrotechnics will blaze away Saturday and Sunday, as well as Wednesday the 4th.

Terrible's Lakeside Casino will serve up its annual fireworks show first, after dark Saturday, June 30. Country pop star Juice Newton, 1980s performer of hits like "Angel of the Morning" and "Queen of Hearts," will entertain at 8 p.m. It all starts out with a barbecue around the lake at 6 p.m.

Next it's the Pahrump Freedom Fest Sunday, July 1, at Petrack Park. Forty vendors will set up displays starting at 8 a.m. on both Saturday and Sunday, including lots of food booths and kids' bouncy games.

Family movies will be shown at 8:45 p.m. Friday and Saturday night as a prelude to the festivities at the soccer field behind the Pahrump town office in Petrack Park, part of the summer outdoor movie series. Friday the classic "Black Beauty" will be shown; on Saturday the selection will be "Happy Feet."

Head pyro-technician John O'Brien predicted the town of Pahrump's Fourth of July fireworks Sunday evening this year will be "the largest show that this town has ever seen -- larger than last year."

The fireworks show will last 24 to 25 minutes, he said.

"The last four minutes, my last count, we're shooting out over 24,000 shells. So it's going to be loud, it's going to be big," O'Brien said. "I plan on using every square foot of the sky I can get."

He suggested bringing a boom box to listen to the music simulcast with the fireworks show on KNYE-FM starting at 8:45 p.m. Pets and fireworks are prohibited from the park.

The smaller fireworks, like the flag display to start the show, will be shot off from in front of McCullough Rodeo Arena, the bigger fireworks will be shot off behind it from three different consoles, O'Brien said. Boy Scout Troop 651 and the Pahrump Elks Lodge will take part in the flag ceremony, O'Brien said.

He added, "I've got a little tribute to the western cowboy in there."

The only complaint so far has been from people who want a Pahrump fireworks show on the Fourth of July. O'Brien said his company, Zambelli Productions, has to put on seven fireworks shows in seven days in Las Vegas and Laughlin as well as Pahrump.

O'Brien said he's also concerned about being able to keep firing off the large shells, if properties up for sale are sold behind Petrack Park. O'Brien said he needs a 1,200-foot clearance area.

"The town needs to very seriously look at a new site," O'Brien said. "I've been telling them this for years. They don't see the seriousness of the need."

The Pahrump Nugget Hotel and Casino has a fireworks show scheduled on the Fourth of July. A parking lot sale starts off the days festivities at 6 a.m. Wednesday. Activities will include a dunk tank in the parking lot.

Barbecue will be served outside starting at 11 a.m. The band County Line will perform from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the parking lot.

The fireworks show starts at 9:15 p.m., also put on by Zambelli Productions. Pahrump Nugget Marketing Manager Lori Doller said their show will last about 12 minutes. It will be shot from the back of the casino, but visible clearly from everywhere in the vicinity.

"We're the only place in town doing something on the Fourth," Doller said.

Over in Amargosa Valley however there will also be a Fourth of July fireworks show on the Fourth at the Amargosa Valley Community Park.

The fun starts at 5 p.m. with kids games, like a watermelon eating contest, a raffle, what town clerk Shelly Kadrmas called, the "best barbecue beef sandwiches ever consumed" and an outdoor dance to the "Highway 95" band. The fireworks follow after dark.