Tinley Park's July 4th fireworks celebration returns to McCarthy Park

CBS News

2 days ago

Chicago didn't host an official fireworks display on the 4th of July, but plenty of suburbs put on their own Independence Day fireworks shows, including southwest suburban Tinley Park, which celebrated the holiday at McCarthy Park.
For 30 minutes, the sky lit up with a beautiful display. Afterward, some neighbors shot off their own fireworks, as the 4th of July brought out crowds near and far for families to enjoy the warm summer night.
On the main stage at McCarthy Park, Five Guys Named Moe and Spoken Four rocked out Friday afternoon ahead of the big fireworks display in Tinley Park.
"This is prime time summertime right here, what it's all about," Jimmy Siwek said.
Plenty of food, games, and just good people packed McCarthy park for the holiday festivities. Dylan Siwek and his parents wouldn't miss the annual event.
"The music, the food, the fireworks, the togetherness of family," Jimmy Siwek said.
Families made plenty of memories, but Dylan was just waiting for one thing, the fireworks.
"After this, then we're going to go shoot off ours in the street over there," his father said.
Finding the perfect place in the park is key. The Francois family can tell you about that.
"It means a lot. It's the first time in, I think, 15 years since we all did a family reunion. You know, it's been a while. We're from New Jersey, so we're all seeing our cousins from Chicago," Yanni Francois said.
"We have family reunion tomorrow, so I said I wanted to kind of show them a little of Chicago, what we do for the 4th of July," Luther Francois said.
With an estimated 20,000 people in one park, security was essential. People waited in long lines as security checked bags before walking through metal detectors. Tinley Park police were out in force, too.
"This has been months in planning. A little inconvenience with people getting bag checks, being wanded, but at the end of the day, we want everybody to have a great time," village manager Pat Carr said.
It was the first time in two years the big fireworks show was held in McCarthy Park. Village and park leaders said people preferred this over having the fireworks at Tinley Park Rib Fest.
"This means everything, because this is what everyone wants. The fireworks should be at McCarthy Park," Mayor Michael Glotz said.