Another major July 4 celebration is off in York County due to coronavirus concern.
One of the area’s largest July 4 celebrations won’t happen as scheduled this year.
The Lake Wylie Chamber of Commerce, a long-time organizer of the July 4 fireworks over Lake Wylie, posted on its Facebook page Tuesday that the show won’t happen as planned. The show will be rescheduled.
The decision was made due to safety concerns related to the COVID-19 coronavirus. In a separate post, chamber president Susan Bromfield commented that a request was made by the York County Sheriff’s Office which typically organizes crowd or traffic control for major July 4 shows in Lake Wylie and at Carowinds.
Lake Wylie isn’t the first community to make the decision. York canceled its July 4 events and Summerfest due to coronavirus social distancing. Red, White & Boom! in Rock Hill switches to a virtual format this year.
Other events since mid-March social distancing measures met the same fate. Come-See-Me in Rock Hill was canceled, as was the South Carolina Strawberry Festival in Fort Mill (it was later held virtually). Several York County events for Memorial Day followed suit.
July 4 typically is a day of varied celebrations in the area. Fort Mill has its long-time canon firing. Tega Cay usually has the most events, as July 4 coincides with the city’s birthday. The city website still lists Tega Cay events on go for July 4. Carowinds still lists a fireworks show on its website, but for now the park remains closed due to social distancing.
The Lake Wylie fireworks are a little different from other celebrations. Since they shoot from Camp Thunderbird near the North Carolina and South Carolina line, the boat deck and shoreline crowd is a bi-state one. Also, Lake Wylie isn’t a municipality. For decades the event has been paid for by community donations.
