Final Touches Underway as The Dalles Prepares for America 250 Celebration
Rock N Roll Show featuring That 90’s Band, The Strange Tones and Whipsaw is 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Lewis & Clark Festival Park and fireworks will follow.
The Dalles, Ore., July 4, 2026 — Volunteers with The Dalles Main Street and Fort Dalles Fourth spent Saturday morning putting the finishing touches on Lewis & Clark Festival Park as The Dalles prepared to celebrate Independence Day and America's 250th birthday with an evening of live music, food, local vendors and one of Oregon's largest fireworks displays.
Crews assembled vendor booths, readied the beer garden, staged equipment and completed final preparations throughout the park ahead of festivities that begin at 5 p.m.
Huge thanks go out to all the sponsors who made the fireworks and concert possible.
The celebration will feature three live bands beginning with Portland blues-punk duo Whipsaw, followed by the surf-inspired garage rock sounds of The Strange Tones. Bend's That '90s Band will close out the concert before fireworks light up the Columbia River at 10 p.m.
Festival-goers can also enjoy a beer garden featuring regional breweries, food vendors, artisan booths, market vendors and family activities throughout the evening.
While volunteers transformed Festival Park into the community's celebration headquarters, another crew was preparing the evening's grand finale on the Columbia River.
Skot Barker with Great Skot Productions ads some festive banners to the stage this morning.
Organizers raised approximately $55,000 through community fundraising and support from the City of The Dalles to produce this year's fireworks display, which commemorates America's 250th birthday with a 20-minute show featuring an expanded grand finale designed to deliver one of the biggest finales in the event's history.
Western Fireworks Display crew were thumbs up this morning as the prepared for the pyrotechnics tonight.
File Photo - An 8-inch mortar which will hit 800 feet in the air before exploding into thousands of intense sparks.
A key part of making that show happen is Bernert Barge Lines of The Dalles.
For more than 13 years, the company has partnered with Western Display Fireworks to transport the fireworks barge, mortars and equipment into position in the middle of the Columbia River, donating the tugboat, barge and logistical support needed to safely launch the display.
Tyler O’Brien the dock foreman with Bernert Barge Lines directs the crane operator as they lift pallots of powerful fireworks over to the barge this morning.
"They do everything," Fort Dalles Fourth's Matt Herriges said. "They've been doing it together for 13 years. We don't have to worry about it."
Herriges estimated Bernert donates well over $10,000 annually in equipment, manpower and logistical support to help make the show possible.
The Columbia River also gives The Dalles an advantage few communities can match. The river's width and broad bend provide the safety zone needed to launch some of the largest aerial shells used in Oregon, helping create a fireworks display that has become one of the premier Independence Day shows in the Pacific Northwest.
When the clock strikes 10 p.m., thousands of spectators are expected to line both shores of the Columbia River as the 20-minute America 250 fireworks spectacular fills the sky, bringing another Independence Day celebration to a booming conclusion.
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