Thursday, May 24, 2012
By Dennis Hoey dhoey@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer
PORTLAND - It has never been tried before -- integrating rousing patriotic music into Portland's Fourth of July fireworks show.
Peter Guerin, Nick Kroot and Matt Blunt of Leavitt & Parris work on the stage preparations for the Portland Symphony Orchestra on the Eastern Prom in Portland on Friday.
Gordon Chibroski/Staff Photographer
BE READY FOR THE FIREWORKS
Spectators are encouraged to arrive by 4 p.m. -- in past years, streets were shut down at 6 p.m. -- because all of the streets leading to Munjoy Hill will be closed then.
From 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Sunday, parking will be banned on both sides of Eastern Prom from Vesper Street to Washington Avenue, on both sides of Fort Allen Park, on Walnut Street from the Eastern Prom to Washington Avenue, and on both sides of Mountfort Street.
Handicapped parking will be available on a first-come, first-served basis along Cutter Street and Fort Allen Park. Drivers, with vehicles clearly marked for handicapped parking, must use the approach from Fore Street.
The East End boat launch will be closed from 10 tonight until 6:30 a.m. Monday,. Boaters may use launches at Falmouth Town Landing, Bug Light in South Portland, and Portland Yacht Services in Portland. Fees are charged at all of those launches.
The Top of the Old Port parking lot on Congress Street will offer special event parking for $5. It's a fairly short walk from the lot to Munjoy Hill.
-- Dennis Hoey
PORTLAND FIREWORKS FROM THE WATER
8:15 to 10:15 p.m.: Fireworks cruise, Portland Schooner Company, Maine State Pier. Passengers are welcome to bring aboard beer and wine. $55. 766-2500, portlandschooner.com.
7:30 to 10:30 p.m.: First July 4th Casco Bay Cruise, Casco Bay Lines, Maine State Pier. Cruise aboard the Island Romance featuring music from DJ Drew and DJ Roy and plenty of drink specials. $30 in advance, $35 same day. Tickets at www.brownpaper tickets.com. For info: www.cascobaylines.com
7:30 to 10:30 p.m.: Annual July 4th Cruise to benefit All About Prevention, Casco Bay Lines, Maine State Pier. Helps raise money for All About Prevention, a nonpofit specializing in HIV prevention. Music from DJ Kate, food and a cash bar. $25. 725-4955; www.allaboutprevention.org/july4cruise.htm
7 to 10 p.m.: Fireworks cruise aboard the Chippewa, Long Wharf. Includes a narrated cruise of the harbor. No smoking or drinking allowed. Soda and chips will be available, and passengers can bring their own snacks. Call ahead. $25 adults; $20 ages 13 to 18; $15 ages 12 and under. 632-8842.
But that's what will happen Sunday. The Portland Symphony Orchestra will play on the Eastern Promenade while fireworks light up the sky over Casco Bay.
Organizers want to ensure that the performances, on land and overhead, are synchronized. PSO Music Director Robert Moody sent a compact disc of the music his orchestra will play to the company that will stage the pyrotechnics display.
Atlas PyroVision Productions Inc. of Jaffrey, N.H., won the bid to produce this year's show, which organizers expect to last for about a half-hour.
"The fireworks will begin during the last two minutes of the Tchaikovsky Overture to 1812," said Jana Spaulding, spokeswoman for the July 4th Portland Foundation. "I've been told that (Moody) is the master of time management."
The whole celebration was in jeopardy earlier this year, after $45,000 for the annual fireworks show was cut from the city's budget.
But four businesses donated the money to rescue the event. The Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram, Quirk Chevrolet, Wright Express and the Maine Red Claws are the founding sponsors of "The Stars and Stripes Spectacular."
A nonprofit organization, the July 4th Portland Foundation, is being formed to sponsor the fireworks in future years. Spaulding said the foundation will consider making the celebration a daylong festival in 2011.
For Sunday night, the city is bracing for a crowd that's expected to exceed 50,000 people.
Police Chief James Craig said there will be plenty of officers -- he wouldn't say how many -- on duty. "We think it's going to be a great event, a safe event," he said.
Spaulding said the fireworks will actually be watched by upward of 70,000 people, because the light show will be visible from Payson Park in Portland, the Martin Point Bridge near Falmouth, Bug Light Park in South Portland, Peaks Island and the hundreds of boats that will be on Casco Bay.
"It's a community event that goes way beyond Munjoy Hill," said Nicole Clegg, a spokeswoman for the city.
Clegg said this is the first time the Portland Symphony Orchestra will play during the fireworks display on the Eastern Prom.
Clegg said other changes have been made for this year's celebration.
Spectators are encouraged to arrive by 4 p.m. -- in past years, streets were shut down at 6 p.m. -- because all of the streets leading to Munjoy Hill will be closed then.
The Top of the Old Port parking lot on Congress Street will offer special event parking for $5, Clegg said. It's a fairly short walk from the lot to Munjoy Hill.
Some parking garages downtown will be open Sunday, but Clegg was not sure which ones.
The PSO concert will begin at 7:40 p.m. Maine Public Radio plans to broadcast the concert live. The fireworks display will start around 9:20 p.m.
The July 4th Portland Foundation is offering reserved seating that will put paying guests close to the orchestra, Spaulding said.
A table for 10 costs $1,000 and guarantees seats near the PSO stage on Cutter Street. Also included are parking and transportation to the event on the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad. There are still six 10-seat tables left.
Tables half that size can be reserved for $500. An individual seat at a table costs $100. All proceeds will help to fund the foundation. For more information or to reserve seating, call 233-4339.
The rain date for the event is Monday, but the forecast for Sunday calls for sunshine and heat. That has organizers excited.
"Right now, things are looking ideal," Spaulding said.
Staff Writer Dennis Hoey can be contacted at 791-6365 or at:
dhoey@pressherald.com
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