LR2 Blogs

VOA News - Fourth of July Fireworks Cascade Into Washington’s Sky

I was one of those hundreds of thousands Monday night, but I have to say that aside from a few rather amazing shells, the fireworks were much less than spectacular. I didn’t time the show, but It seemed much less than 30 minutes, and many people I talked to said it last about 25 minutes.

The trip back to the hotel was interesting to say the least. They say 480k people used the Metro to travel away from the show that night. I have never seen a crowd as thick as it was trying to get into the Federal Triangle metro stop. Imagine a large stadium, like the silver dome, filled up and trying to exit via two stopped escalators. Once I got down the escalators the metro wasn’t any worse than rush hour, but I heard tales that at some of the stops the crowd was entering the station faster than the trains could take them away and people were at risk of getting pushed onto the rails.

Hundreds of thousands of Americans and foreign tourists converged on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., to celebrate the Fourth of July, America’s Independence Day.

Celebrations in U.S. capital began Monday morning with a parade, which included marching bands from across the country.

A spectacular fireworks display, followed a concert at the U.S. Capitol building, featuring singers like the Beach Boys and Gloria Estefan.