Pyrotechnics fans can go uptown for the Downtown Memphis Fireworks @ Grind City Brewing Company on July 4th.
Grind City Brewing Company at 76 Waterworks Avenue will host the event with fireworks, live music, food, and drinks. “Everything is ready to rock and roll for the fireworks,” says Grind City president Hopper Seely.
The event will be held in the tap room and on the brewery’s two acres from noon to 10 p.m. “We have the Memphis skyline in the background. We have the bridge. We have the Pyramid. It is quintessential Memphis.” And, he adds, the brewery features “a beautiful natural landscape along the skyline.”
Seely describes the event as a family occasion. It’s for “people from uptown, downtown, Mud Island, the Pinch, and the medical district.” Or anywhere.
Seely believes the last time a Mud Island July 4th fireworks display was held downtown was in 2021. “The first Fourth of July for the brewery, we had just a really great day. Everybody was lined up with blankets and chairs along the fence line watching the fireworks. It was awesome.”
It “has just been kind of a downer in Memphis” after they stopped doing the July 4th downtown fireworks, he says. “Then it hit us. It was a Hail Mary. What if we do it?”
They shared the idea with the Downtown Memphis Commission (DMC), which “helped us understand the legality of doing it. Permits. Coding. That kind of stuff. The Commission gave us their support to have the fireworks here and we’re very excited.”
Seely is planning for a crowd. “We are expecting at least 1,000 people to be here. We are able to have up to 5,500 people on site. We’ve got just under two acres of space, so people will be able to sit, play, and watch the fireworks.”
There are picnic tables on the grounds, but attendees are encouraged to bring blankets and chairs.
“It’s going to be a slightly elevated Fourth of July experience,” says Grind City marketing director Anna House. “It almost becomes like a courtyard/backyard experience with food on one side, games and inflatables on the other side.”
A lot of shows are designed for people to just watch the fireworks and go home. “We wanted this to be a party.”
People can bring refillable water, but other drinks, as well as alcoholic drinks, will have to be purchased from the brewery and food from the food trucks. “To make sure the food vendors do OK,” Seely says.
Grind City will feature “a few drink options,” including its popular seasonal drink Krispie Treat that they will re-launch at the event. “It is our rice lager that tastes like a home-made krispy treat.”
They will be launching their “Southern Suga’” on July 4th. “It is our newest seltzer and is like a spiked sweet tea, served with a lemon wedge.”
Participating food trucks are Chi Phi Food Truck (Chicago-style hot dogs and Philly cheese steaks), Mempops, El Mero Taco (Mexican), and Champs BBQ (Memphis-style barbecue).
Two lots of paid parking will be available on a first-come-first-served basis but, Seely says, “We will have the police monitor the street for any street parking.”
“We are excited about the fireworks at Grind City,” says Milton Howery III, vice-president of marketing, communications, and events for the DMC. “This event will bring great economic activity to the uptown neighborhood, the north Memphis community, and those communities that connect to downtown and uptown.”
Also, he says, “The DMC is working with other downtown partners to bring the fireworks back to the riverfront in 2025.”
In the meantime, in addition to Grind City’s show, the Red, White & Boom Celebration will be held July 3rd at AutoZone Park. And the “Liberty For All” festival will be held July 3rd at Liberty Park.
“The fireworks that were on the riverfront the people could see shoot up from Mud Island, those fireworks were typically a joint effort between multiple entities,” Howery says. Those displays ended a few years ago because of Covid and downtown construction.
To get to Grind City Brewing Company, go north on Second Street by way of Main Street or Front Street to Waterworks Avenue.