Los Banos moving ahead with July 4 celebration — without city needing to pitch in funding

The Los Banos Downtown Association has withdrawn its funding request to the city asking for help to cover the cost of the group’s annual Fourth of July Celebration and fireworks display.

The request was scheduled to be revisited at Wednesday’s council meeting. Sharon Silva, Los Banos Downtown Association executive director, said the group’s board couldn’t risk waiting two weeks for an answer — amid planning for an event that’s less than a month away.

The all-day celebration is scheduled from 11 am to 9 p.m. Saturday July 3 at the Henry Miller Plaza. The fireworks display will take place from 8:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the fairgrounds.

City Council had discussed the request at its previous meeting, but the members could not agree whether to co-sponsor the event. “If the city was so concerned that they wanted two extra weeks to think about it — we didn’t have the time. We just needed to do it or not and the board wanted to continue, ” Silva said.

The event is estimated to cost between $30,000 to $35,000. The association had requested $15,660 from the city to cover the costs of having police security, tables, chairs, mobile lighting, signage boards, and cooling stations.

Although the association was initially worried about covering the $15,660, within the last two weeks they were able to raise $25,000 in sponsorships, nearly $10,000 more than the amount requested from the city.

Even though the City Council was on the fence about providing funds for the event, Silva said no one has harbored negative feelings. The association just wants this event to be a time of celebration, especially as the county just reopened, she said.

“We wanted to do this and we were getting very positive feedback that people wanted the fireworks, the event and we wanted to be able to do it and fortunately we’re able to move forward,” Silva said.

Attendees can look forward to the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2487 honoring the flags, live music, dancers, a beer booth, food vendors, a Mary-Go-Round, and activities for kids.

This story was originally published June 16, 2021 at 5:00 AM.