Livermore 4th of July Fireworks

This year, 2014, was ok. They only played Miley Cyrus during the whole firework show… how patriotic. The traffic was horrible getting out, and the parking lot was not moving ! It took us 2 hours to get back to Dublin from Livermore. I loved the fireworks last year in Las Positas. It was much better. I am not sure why they decided to have it in downtown Livermore. It wasn’t worth the time. I hope they will have it at Los Positas next year.

If you have never seen fireworks before, you possibly will think this is the best show you have ever seen. As for me, it could be that I am spoiled. I have seen shows put on by small Colorado mountain towns lasting 40 minutes with 3 bursts every 5 seconds with 5-​minute long grand finales. The Livermore show last night lasted barely over 15 minutes and when the «grand finale» came (it lasted maybe 25 seconds, tops), my spouse and I looked at each other and simultaneously said to the other, «Was that it?» A huge disappointment followed by a traffic nightmare. It took us longer to get out of there than the fireworks display actually lasted.
Don’t get me wrong — I really wanted to see Livermore succeed with this, because it is my understanding it took a long time to bring this show back to life. I remember the good old days when the fireworks were down behind the old barn, were free of charge, and we could walk there with blankets and beach chairs in hand. Now it is an expensive venture and you can’t even walk to it. Any chance the show can be brought back to town?

I’ll admission I’m a consumer in the purest form, thus was part of the traffic to the east along North Livermore and Hartman (whereby you could park almost under the fireworks, sans rules or entry fees).
The show was on par with when the City hosted, and a tremendously good effort given the grassroots group that worked to bring us the event back to town.
And a good «jorb» for LFPD on snuffing out the ensuing vegetation fire that some of the raining sparks set off about two-​thirds into the show to the southeast. (Quite visible to us ‘outsider’ attendees.)

My wife, 2-​year-​old daughter and I attended the revived Livermore 4^th of July Fireworks last night at Las Positas College. I’m giving the event 4 stars for effort and an overall good time, but we have several constructive criticisms… Let’s start with those.
1. The Rules — upon entrance we were given a list of about 12 – 15 rules for the event. Many were no-​brainers, such as no drugs, firearms, explosives, outside alcohol, etc; but some were a little over the top, such as no cans and no unsealed containers and thermoses. So had we brought a cooler with sodas we would have been violating the rules. Additionally, the forecast called for 58 degree temps and 20 MPH winds a thermos with hot chocolate or coffee would have been ideal. Side note — I did not see coffee, tea, or hot chocolate being sold by any of the vendors. But, that being said I don’t think they were confiscating peoples sodas or coffee thermos’ either so we probably could have gotten away with it.
2. The Beer and Wine — If my $ 7.00 beer was 12 oz. I would have been surprised. I was pleased that they offered micro brews for a little extra, but a Budweiser would have cost $ 5 and that still would not have been worth it. A suggestion for next year, get 16 or better yet 20 oz. cups and charge the same price. You’ll probably even make more money. to make matter worse, the Altamont Beer Works beers that were being poured were not great… at all. I had an IPA and a Wheat Beer and both were less than stellar. I know, I know, they’re a local brewery and we should be supporting them etc., but I would have preferred Budweiser… and that’s saying a lot.
3. Wolf Hamlin and the Drifters — This guy was on American Idol and I guess he generated some buzz with his large stature, full beard, and tattoos, but he came across as an A-​hole. His music was okay, but every time he spoke between songs he just seemed like he was trying to hard to be funny and instead came across as a jackass. For a family event it was just kind of annoying. For instance, when the organizers of the event first announced him (with quite enthusiasm I might add) he came up to the Mic and his first comment was a complaint that the woman had adjusted or moved «his» microphone and that you should know to never move a man’s mic. Really Wolf?
4. KKIQ’s Simulcast — Not sure who was responsible for the timing of the music and fireworks, but the prerecorded «thank you fore attending tonight’s event…» was playing before the grand finally even started. Kind of lame if you ask me. I guess it could have been worse. They could have set the entire fireworks display off at once like they did in San Diego!
5. Getting out of the Stadium and Parking Lot — This was a borderline nightmare. The way the sports field at Las Positas is set up, the entire field is surrounded by a 3-​foot high chain link fence with openings at the four corners. Well when 10,000 people are trying to exit at the same time (mostly through 2 of the corner exits) it was shoulder to shoulder madness. My wife was holding our two-​year-​old and I was pushing the stroller and it was insane. They started making announcements over the PA that people should go the opposite end of the field and use those exits because they weren’t as busy, but at that point we were going where the crowd pushed us and there was no turning back. The logistics were difficult but the lack of pre-​instruction made it worse. They gave us a list of 15 rules to follow when we got there, maybe some directions on how to exit would have been nice. The parking lot was equally maddening. We luckily had parked very near an exit, so it only took us about 15 minutes to get out once we got in our car. I can imagine that some people were waiting for 30 – 45 minutes.
Okay, okay, it’s not all bad. I won’t go into as much detail about the good things, because I think most people know what to expect for a fireworks show. The food vendors seemed good. The security was excellent. The sports field was a nice place to lay out a blanket and view the show. The fireworks display was wonderful (even with 20+ MPH winds). Overall, we really had a great time and given that this is the first year at this venue and the first year back after a brief hiatus I think they did an excellent job. I think my criticisms above could all be addressed in time for an improved event next year. We’ll be back again.