Labor Day Fireworks

Labor Day is celebrated on first Monday of September since 1982. It began as the celebration of the strength and unity of the labor groups around the world. And to create a day off for the workers of the industries. Later it evolved as the day of rejoice and rest for the workers of the industries and their families.

Now the Labor day marks the end of summer. Street parade and speeches are held to signify the importance of the Labor day. During 1909, American Federation of Labor convention declared the Sunday before the Labor day as the Labor Sunday. In that day the educational and spiritual component of the Labor day was to be celebrated.

The special feature of the Labor Sunday is the fireworks. It is held in various cities. And every city has its unique way of displaying the fireworks. I heard a lot about the Labor Sunday fireworks in Newport. I was very interested to see it. I did not have any opportunity to see the Labor Sunday fireworks before.

Hence, my curiosity was in peek. Acknowledging my enthusiasm, my friends decided to take me to the fireworks at Newport. My friends told me that lots of people would come to see the fireworks. It was an annual festival and people liked to participate in it. And it would be a challenge to find a good spot.

We decided that the best place to see the fireworks would be in the Newport Central Catholic High School. Fireworks was scheduled to start at five past nine at night. Thinking about the heavy traffic and the scarcity of the good spot we decided to get there a bit early.

We thought going there about an hour early would be good enough. But when we reached the parking area, I was amazed to see the masses of people walking going to the Newport Central Catholic High School. The road was covered by the people going towards the school. I still thought we would be able to find a spot for us. I was very excited at the mean time to see the masses of people walking towards the school.

Everybody was excited to see the firework. But when we reached the school gate I was shocked to find out that there were three people charging two dollar per person for entrance. Earlier my friend had told me that the entrance to the school was free.

We had to pay the entrance fee to get inside the school. Once we were at the school vincinity I was surprised to see so many people lined up there since afternoon with their carpet, chairs, food and lights. It seemed they were there for picnic and not just for the fireworks.

I was also shocked to see the large number of people gathered there. I have never before seen so many people gather in a place since I have been here. So I was excited and shocked at the same time.

Another surprise came when we found out that we were not allowed take any drinks and food supplies inside the school area. I had taken a bottle of water and some chips along with me, which I had to dump in the garbage can. And I had to buy a bottle of water and food there which was so expensive.

We thought we would reach the school by eight pm. But due to the long lines of people we reached the school at around nine. We barely made it for the fireworks. The view of the city from there was spectacular. For me it was the most beautiful sight of Newport that I had ever seen.

My friend started taking pictures. As she did not wanted to miss the view we were seeing. There were people of all age group. It was nice to see that so many people were interested about their culture. The fireworks started soon after, exactly at five past nine.

Once the fireworks began I could not take my eyes off the sky. The sky was lit up. It was so beautifully done. The music in the background definitely kept the masses on their feet. As the crowd were enjoying the music they cheered as the lights glowed up in the air.

The fireworks lasted about half an hour. Later a friend of mine asked me, whether it was worth all the trouble of getting there. I heard about the Labor Sunday firework and I expected it to be great. Standing at the Newport Central Catholic High School with my friends all my expectations were fulfilled.

To me the firework at the Newport felt like a way of people to come together and celebrate the labor day and most importantly each other. It was a fun way of saying goodbyes to the warm summer and welcoming the fall.

As we returned home we all felt glad that we came and saw the firework. Events like these bring people together. I can understand why all those people went through all the trouble and went there. As I said before it was to recognize the importance of the day and to rejoice.