City of Wasilla gearing up for annual fireworks show

WASILLA— The City of Wasilla is getting ready to host its annual New Year’s Eve fireworks celebration out of their go-to location, the Iditapark/Wonderland Park area Tuesday, Dec. 31 at 8 p.m.

“I always make the joke, kids and older people are still awake at 8 o’clock at night; because a lot of places do it at midnight and a lot of people are already sound asleep by midnight,” Wasilla Mayor Bert Cottle said. “So, we do it early enough in the day that everybody gets to see and it’s dark enough to see it.” This event is free and open to the public. Attendees are encouraged to bring camping chairs, warm clothes and are asked to leave their pets at home.

Planet Fitness will have a “Kindness Car” near the public restrooms handing out free “Light the Night” glow sticks for attending children.

Aurora Pyrotechnics is presenting the firework show and Gorilla Fireworks is sponsoring the event.

Wasilla Mayor Bert Cottle said that he recently talked to the local fire chief and everything is set to run according to schedule. He said that Wasilla has been hosting this event for the last 15 to 20 years to the best of his knowledge.

Cottle noted that the event cost about $10,000 to put together but it’s always free for everyone to attend. He said it’s one of the ways the city works to give back to the community.

“It’s something we can kind of give back and say thanks to the community,” Cottle said.

Looking forward to 2020, Cottle said there’s a vast range of events, recent additions and upcoming projects to look forward to in the Wasilla area.

“Well, there’s lots of things. We’ve got the first rodeo of the year, we’ve got the car show, a carnival’s gonna’ be there again, we’re building a new playground set out there at the Menard Center, we’ve got the Wings over Wasilla Air Show… We’ve got the opening of the new police department this summer. We’ve got the next phase of the Veterans Wall that will be done summer. We’re going to start moving the train depot,” Cottle said. “I mean, I can keep going and going and going but, yeah, there’s going to be lots of things going on.”

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com