SMC fireworks light up the sky for Celebrate America
The annual event was a celebration of the values of liberty, equality and justice for all, set to a selection of patriotic brass tunes, a few pop hits and large explosions in the form of erupting washes of color and light when the fireworks were set off at around 9:00 P.M.
Before the fireworks, Cliff Wagner & The Old #7's bluegrass stylings and speed banjo entertained the crowd. Between sets master of ceremonies Eddie Jauregui played games with the crowd, including a scavenger hunt that asked kids to find rare items such as a silver dollar.
Members of Santa Monica College's Global Motion performed a traditional Aztec dance indigenous to our neighboring country across the southern border opposite the good ol' band to raise money for their trip to China. Meanwhile, girls performed cartwheels in front of the Santa Monica Fire Department's fire truck because they could.
Vendors hawked patriotic merchandise and glow sticks throughout the night that turned the scene into a mass of color, a patriotic yet much less rabid Electric Daisy Carnival if you will, when day turned to dusk.
Patrons were fed by local food trucks including local offerings Cheer Burger and The Churro Man as well as national brands, such as Fatburger and The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. According to those who have attended the event in years past, overall business participation appeared to be down significantly.
However, the masses that spilled out to Pearl street never seemed to care. As revelers exited the stadium and the neighborhood and the waft of smoke from the pyrotechnics drifted into the summer night, they reflected on the barbeque, bluegrass and pageantry they had partaken in. America had been celebrated with all the pomp and circumstance now common when Independence Day is just around the corner.