Leechburg put on its fireworks the night of July 3, and I want to put this on the record while it is fresh: I have been to a lot of shows around Pittsburgh and here in the Kiski Valley, and this was the best one I have attended in the area. The whole experience beat shows ten times its size.
Getting there was the easy part
Anyone who has crawled out of a big municipal fireworks lot at 10:30 pm knows the tax you usually pay for a good show. Leechburg charged none of it. There was no traffic coming into town and parking was easy to find; the show started right on time and ran a solid 25 minutes. We had pizza in town earlier in the evening, so the whole night happened within a few blocks.
Room to actually watch
The part that surprised me most was the space. I stood on the bike trail near Hicks Avenue and the nearest group of people was 50 to 100 feet away. I could have moved closer to the launch area if I wanted; I was already about as close as made sense for the best view, so I stayed put. If you wanted to hang back instead, all of Market Street was open, and the bridge would make a fine seat too. There is no fighting for a patch of grass here. Families had blankets and chairs spread out with room for kids to run, and nobody was packed shoulder to shoulder.
The show itself
Twenty five minutes is longer than most small town displays run, and it did not pad the time with long gaps. Because you can stand so close, the shells break more or less overhead; that changes the experience in a way that a distant skyline show cannot match, no matter how large the budget behind it. Standing on the trail with the river behind you and the hills boxing in the sound, every report echoes off the valley walls. You feel this show as much as you see it.
If you go next year
Come into town early enough for dinner, park once, and walk. The trail near Hicks Avenue is where I would stand again; Market Street and the bridge work if you want to stay farther back. Bring chairs for the kids and do not stress about the crowd, because there is not one. Taken together, easy parking, an on time start, room to spread out, and 25 minutes of shells breaking overhead make this the show I will plan around next July.
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