One of the nation's largest fireworks displays is set to blastoff Saturday night in downtown Minneapolis, wrapping up Aquatennial festivities that began on Wednesday.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Target fireworks display drew around 250,000 spectators to downtown Minneapolis.
"That was kind of the typical amount of people we'd see before 2020," said Mark Remme with the Minneapolis Downtown Council. "We always expect similar numbers, but it's hard to estimate what kind of crowd we will have this year. We do expect to have a very big crowd along the riverfront."
Aquatennial came with questions from Minneapolis residents and non-Minneapolis residents about security. Back on July 4, chaos unfolded throughout the downtown area as people shot fireworks from cars at people who were walking down the street.
A shooting that same night at Boom Island Park left seven people injured.
"We have been working very closely with our law enforcement agency partners at their direction, we work with outreach teams, we have a very comprehensive plan in place that we've had in place all week long," Remme said. "We really prioritize it and want people to know it's on the forefront of our minds in terms of planning and preparation."
West River Parkway, along Portland Avenue, is the recommended viewing spot for Saturday night's fireworks in downtown Minneapolis. There are a number of events leading up to 10 p.m. including AquaJam Skateboarding and live music.
Zambelli Fireworks is once again organizing the fireworks display.
"The fireworks are choreographed down to one hundredth of a second to the beat of the music. This year's pyro musical is an all-female artist line-up. It's going to be a really great group of musicians participating in the simulcast."
