Fourth of July Blast set for Orange

It will be an event like Orange hasn’t seen since … at least 2019.

Sunday is the date.

The Riverside Pavilion is the site.

The City of Orange is thrilled to host the 2021 Fourth of July Concert and Fireworks Celebration – especially since the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out the 2020 gathering.

The event is free and open to the public. It promises to explode with plenty of pent-up red, white and blue.

Gates will open at 5 p.m. at the new covered concert venue at 502 E. Destroyer Dr, a hundred yards or so from the Orange Boat Ramp.

Entertainment treasure Wayne Toups & ZydeCajun will perform from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., at which time … Pop, Pop, Bloo-ie!

Do your neck-stretching exercises a day or two in advance, because you’ll find yourself looking skyward and oohing and ahhing at the fireworks for a long, long time.

Concessions and kids activities will be available on site. Chairs and coolers are welcomed but dogs and other pets are not allowed at the Riverside Pavilion.

Toups, 62, is a native of Crowley, Louisiana and one of the most commercially successful American Cajun singer and songwriters.

He started playing accordian at 13 and hasn’t stopped. After performing the music of accordian masters, he was inspired to try reaching a new generation of music lovers. His energetic fusion of roots rock and traditional Louisiana sounds mixed with a dash of soul and classic rock created a sound that both young and old alike grooved on.

His ZydeCajun style swept the south and he signed a recording deal in 1985 that resulted in a Mercury Records contract and an album titled “ZydeCajun.”

His 1989 album, “Blast from the Bayou,” took his music to a nationwide audience.

For more information about Sunday’s doings, contact the Orange Convention and Visitors Bureau at 409-883-1011 or visit the Orange Convention & Visitors Bureau Facebook page.