Andrew Colabella gets in the red-white-and-blue spirit.
A small portion of the large crowd.
Adam Goldberg serves up shrimp. He and his Honor Bar Beach Club were on the beach since 6:30 a.m. — with someone always in the cabana.
Every dog has his Independence Day.
Food, a book and an umbrella — what more do you need?
As always, a long line of cars waited to get into Compo Beach.
Popular Police Chief Foti Koskinas gives Ben Kiev a seat on his motorcycle.
The Cobras dance band wowed the crowd.
Westport’s fireworks are timeless. This shot is from 2016 — it’s better than anything I took last night. Happy 4th! (Photo/Patricia McMahon)
Disappointed! I left my home on Thomas at 6:05 and at 7:45 had not reached the light at Bridge. At that rate I figured I wouldn’t get to the beach until the fireworks had started so I turned around and went home. Missed it so thanks for the pix! Wonder how many others did as well. Something very different about the traffic this year.
you are right traffic was heavy this year but in the end there was room for all! What a great night! Thanks to the PAL and Melissa & Doug. Walking was a good choice.
Fantastic time at the fireworks. A great late afternoon and evening. A real westport party.
Did anyone see the guys in camouflage with guns tied to their thighs? Must have been 6 or more. Was there any threat or just a precaution? I do not remember seeing this before.
Always a lot of Westport police but never saw military types at the 4th.
forgive me if i’m wrong but the fireworks last night seemed awful blah compared to other years what happened
I like this blog because it always puts a positive spin even on problems.
that said the good news I have is we made it to see the the fireworks…just made it.
The unfortunate part was it took 2.5 hrs to get there. I had warned my guests (miserable & hungry) that in the past it’s taken an hour to drive the normally 15min. for the fireworks. The 45 min of fireworks went off on time at dark as always. We stayed just long enough to eat the special dinner i prepared, now wilted and soggy, in the dark instead of the promised sunset. We cleaned up the beach we were sitting on, or should I say we heaped our trash onto to the piles burying the lone trash bin then started walking through the crowds to the place we were to meet the bus to take our guests to the car only to learn the shuttle stopped running. I sure the long walk to Longshore after dinner in the dark hauling beach chairs and dinner remains was a healthy thing to do. Next year I think I’ll just send a check to P.A.L. and end a 20 year tradition of going to the 4th at the beach. My guests are never coming back and I’m not sure I will either.
To use and old cliche; Curious minds want to know……why was it so difficult this year to get there?
Ending on a good note…it was a beautiful night, a wonderful fireworks display and everyone was kept safe, lets count our blessings.
My husband and I had dinner at Pearl last evening. We saw the Norwalk fireworks in a beautiful setting. The Westport ones were out of range. It took us 70 minutes to get to Longshore, in what was usually a 10-15 minute ride.
I’ve gone to Compo fireworks many many times over the years (1970’s thru 2000’s).
It was never a quick trip … and over an hour (or more) in … and back out, was not uncommon.
It really depended on so many factors.
The setting was always worth it though!
Didn’t they recently change the traffic flow pattern at the beach (per one of your blog posts in the last year or so, Dan?).
Sometimes small changes can have huge negative impacts … so wondering if that was part of the reason for excessive delays this year?
Thanks for sharing these images, Dan!