BREMEN -- People often associate fireworks with the Fourth of July, but the annual Bremen Firemen’s Festival “Gigantic Fireworks Display” proves it’s never too early to celebrate with them.
This year’s display will be at 10:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 22.
At local organization meetings, members of the community have questioned why the dates for the festival have changed in recent years; as it turns out, this wasn’t a decision by the festival organizers.
“The fire department does not have any control on the dates,” said BFD Captain and Training Officer Eric Thornton. “Those are determined by the ride company.”
In this case, that company is Luehrs’ Ideal Rides, an Illinois-based company.
Thornton expressed that this doesn’t affect his or other firefighters’ outlook on the festival.
BFD has been using Luehrs’ for its carnival rides since the first festival, and Thornton said they have no plans to switch.
“Lots of other ride companies do not have the quality of rides or workers that Luehrs’ Ideal Rides has,” he said. “We feel very fortunate to have them.”
Now in its 63rd year, the Bremen Firemen’s Festival was originally scheduled around Labor Day. That was shifted to closer to the Fourth of July, before shifting to June dates three years ago.
The dates don’t seem to matter for the festival, though, as families from Bremen and other communities still crowd the streets for it every year.
