Osage Beach postpones Fourth of July celebration to July 11

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Osage Beach’s Independence Day celebration has been postponed to July 11, the city announced in a Tuesday afternoon press release.

The city wrote that it has to reschedule its Heart of the Lake FreedomFest because “the City’s contracted pyrotechnics company was unable to fulfill its contractual obligation to provide the fireworks display on July 4th.”

Assistant City Administrator April White told ABC 17 News in an email that the company providing the fireworks – AM Pyrotechnics LLC from Buffalo, Missouri – “stopped communicating despite multiple efforts to reach them by phone, email, and text.”

The company allegedly confirmed on Tuesday they were not able to “execute the display.”

“We understand how much our residents and visitors have looked forward to this event and we sincerely apologize for the rescheduling inconvenience,” Parks and Recreation Manager Eric Gregory was quoted in the release. “Rather than canceling the celebration altogether, we felt it was important to reschedule so families can still enjoy an evening of community, entertainment, and a spectacular fireworks display celebrating our nation’s 250th year!”

The festival will take place from 3-9 p.m. July 11 at Osage Beach City Park, with a fireworks display starting at 9 p.m., the release says.

Two weeks ago, the city had announced that it was canceling the parade it had scheduled because of “feedback from the affected businesses and careful consideration of potential impact during this busy weekend in our community,” previous reporting shows.