We asked our readers where to see the best 4th of July fireworks in Northern Michigan. This is what they said.
Best 4th of July Fireworks
First Place: Traverse City
Hosted by the TC Boom Boom Club, Traverse City’s 4th of July fireworks are part of the Cherry Festival. The display begins at 10:30 p.m.
Second Place: Frankfort/Elberta
The Frankfort/ Elberta fireworks are hosted by the Frankfort Elberta Chamber of Commerce on July 4 around 10:30 p.m. During the day, check out the carnival and parade at 10 a.m.
Third Place: Northport
Northport fireworks are hosted by the Northport Chamber of Commerce on July 4 starting at 8 p.m. Kids games and bounce house starts at noon and there’s live music at 5 p.m.
More 4th of July Fireworks in Northern Michigan (on July 4 unless noted)
- Bay Harbor, July 3 at dusk
- Beaver Island, dusk
- Beulah, dusk
- Boyne City, 10:30 p.m.
- Cadillac, July 7 at dusk
- Cheyboygan, dusk
- Crystal Mountain, July 3 at dusk
- Gaylord, 10:30 p.m.
- Grand Marais, dusk
- Grayling, dusk
- Harbor Springs, 10:30 p.m.
- Indian River, July 5 at dusk
- Lake City, 10:30 p.m.
- Leland, July 3 at dusk
- Mackinac Island, dusk
- Mackinaw City, dusk
- Manistee, 9pm
- Pentwater, July 3 at dusk
- Petoskey, dusk
- Shanty Creek, July 3 at dusk
- St. Ignace, dusk
- Torch Lake (south end), July 3 at dusk
- Walloon Lake, dusk
We chatted with fireworks guru Bruce Tyree who puts on the Traverse City show …
Fireworks may be one of the most traditional 4th of July traditions, but it takes some tech to pull off a show as elaborate as Traverse City’s July 4th spectacle. For starters, the whole display is choreographed to music—a custom blend of classic rock, country, jazz and the requisite patriotic favorites that Bruce starts assembling at least six months in advance.
Once he has a 30-minute mashup he’s satisfied with, he then loads the soundtrack into a proprietary software program that allows him to perfectly coordinate different pyrotechnics to every crescendo and cymbal crash. He can even run a simulation to get a sense of how it’s all going to look. When everything’s just so, he then outputs a “fire file” that will direct the whole show via a computer on the big night. Organizers will have plenty of speakers blaring Bruce’s custom mix if you want to take in the show with the sound included. Or he has a new app so you stream the soundtrack if you’re watching from beyond earshot of West Bay.