BARRY COURTER: Lisa, can you believe Christmas is almost here? I’m kidding, but it is stunning that the Fourth of July is Friday. And it’s become tradition to have a bunch of events for July Fourth Eve (I just made that up). The Chattanooga Symphony & Opera will present its annual Pops on the River concert Thursday at Coolidge Park, which means the Chattanooga Theatre Centre will be hosting its party next door as well.
For people who have not been, Pops on the River is one of the truly cool things our city has to offer. How often do you get to have a good old-fashioned picnic with a blanket, pickin’ food and great music in such a great venue?
LISA DENTON: And fireworks. Don’t forget the fireworks. The Dismembered Tennesseans will be the special guests for the evening, and Kayoko Dan will conduct.
The Chattanooga Lookouts will be winding up a home series against the Birmingham Barons that night, and there’ll be fireworks at nearby AT&T Field, too.
BARRY: Oh. I hope they don’t have a repeat of a couple of years ago when the Lookouts’ fireworks went off and the symphony crowd thought someone had messed up. I spoke to some folks to see if the two events had been coordinated in any way and was told there really isn’t a way to make that work. So essentially, folks downtown will get two fireworks shows. It’d be cool if the AT&T fireworks just happened to go off at the end of the CSO’s “1812 Overture.”