VONORE, Tenn. — East Tennesseans came by road and by water to the annual Light Up the Night Fireworks Spectacular at the Sequoyah Marina and Resort in Vonore for some Fourth of July Eve festivities.
The event featured live music from the Temper Evans Band, a variety of food and beverages, and a water raft-up presented by Knoxville-based Sea Ray.
Things were going great and hundreds of people turned out to enjoy the evening on the water.
However, Murphy's Law took effect suddenly when the sun started to set and it came time for the much-awaited spectacular fireworks display to kick off the Fourth of July holiday.
A typical summer weather pattern has been hanging over East Tennessee this week, causing lots of heat, humidity and plenty of pop-up storms. It just so happened that some of those storms popped up in Cumberland County Wednesday evening and began heading toward Monroe County and Vonore.
By 9 p.m., the storms had gained some steam and the National Weather Service issued a Severe Thunderstorm Warning for Monroe, Loudon and McMinn counties. Soon enough, lightning lit up the skies and it began pouring at the festival.
As of 10 p.m., it was still up in the air if the fireworks would go off later in the night. Many people had already begun to leave before that call was made, though.
Despite the bad weather, the event still raised money to help the Monroe County CASA Organization that works with abused and neglected children in Monroe County.
Job seekers could also explore current openings with Sea Ray, and B97.5 gave a live remote broadcast of the event.
Where you can celebrate: Fourth of July events in East Tennessee
Check before you celebrate: Is it legal to buy or shoot fireworks where I live?