Test run of Dalton fireworks display set for June 26

Published 8:15 am Saturday, June 21, 2025

Dalton residents will get a preview of the city’s Independence Day fireworks show this coming Thursday, June 26, beginning at 8 p.m. and lasting approximately 30 minutes.

Originally scheduled for Friday, June 27, city officials announced Friday, June 20, that the test run of the Independence Day fireworks was rescheduled
to eliminate any conflict with the Pops in the Park event at Burr Park that will take place Friday, June 27.

The city will hold its primary Independence Day celebration this year at the North Georgia Fairgrounds instead of Heritage Point Park where it has been held the last several years. The relocation is due to ongoing artificial turf installation at Heritage Point and the construction going on at James Brown Park, city officials said.

Since the city hasn’t had its fireworks show at the fairgrounds before, fireworks technicians will be conducting test shots to see where the best place to fire them will be. This will also allow city officials to see where the fireworks will be visible throughout the city so that they can advise residents where they can go to see the show if they cannot or do not wish to attend the show at the fairgrounds.

The Parks and Recreation Department will disperse staff across the city to observe the test, and they plan to release the results of the test soon after they have time to review the observations, so residents can make their plans.

All of the city’s Independence Day events will take place on Friday, July 4. In addition to the fairgrounds, the city’s celebration will include events at the John Davis Recreation Center and the Mack Gaston Community Center, as well as one event at Heritage Point Park.

The events will kick off at 9 a.m. with an old-timers softball game at Heritage Point.

The splash pad at the community center and the pool at the John Davis Recreation Center at James Brown Park will open at noon.

The gates at the fairgrounds will open at 2:30 p.m., where the following events will take place:

• Registration for the cornhole tournament will take place at 3 p.m. and the tournament kicks off at 5.

• Registration for the Little Miss Recreation pageant will be at 3, and the pageant starts at 4.

• NoZtalgia Classic Rock will perform at 6, and country singer/songwriter Shelby Lynn Mosteller, a Chatsworth native, at 8:30.

The day will end at around 9:45 p.m. with the fireworks show that will last at least 20 minutes, according to officials.