Rose Bowl Says AmericaFest Fireworks Show Has to Change

According to Rose Bowl General Manager Jens Weiden, AmericaFest, the annual fireworks extravaganza hosted in the Bowl every Fourth of July for almost a century,  lost more than half a million dollars in 2022 and would need to be reworked if it returns to the iconic stadium.

Instead of the traditional AmericaFest this July 4, the Rose Bowl will be the scene of a sold-out soccer match and an after-match fireworks show for soccer ticket holders on the adjacent Brookside Golf Course.

In years past, AmericaFest has been described as the biggest Independence Day fireworks display west of the Mississippi.

In 2022 the 96th annual AmericaFest Celebration included the Palomino Festival, highlighting country music presented by Goldenvoice.

“We will continue to look at options for future years, but I would expect that if Americafest comes back it may look different than it has in the past,” Weiden told Pasadena Now on Tuesday. “Last year Americafest lost over $500,000, and that just isn’t sustainable long term. We look forward to working with our stakeholders in the Arroyo and the City to see what that evolution looks like for future years.  In the meantime we are excited to welcome LAFC [Los Angeles Football Club] and the LA Galaxy to America’s Stadium on July 4.”

The soccer match was originally scheduled for Feb. 25, but poor weather forced organizers to reschedule the event. 

“We’re excited that on the 4th of July this year, we’re going to have a soccer match between LAFC and the LA Galaxy at the stadium,” Weiden said. “It’s a rescheduled soccer match that was supposed to take place in February, but because of inclement weather, we rescheduled it to July 4th. And the exciting thing for us is that we have a history of doing soccer matches here on the 4th of July with fireworks. When the LA Galaxy played here for years, we would have a soccer match and then do fireworks after the soccer match. And so this year that’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to have a sold out soccer match on July 4th, followed by a firework show on the golf course at the conclusion of the game. So we’re excited that we’re actually going to do both.”

“We’re going to have a world-class soccer match, and then we’re going to do a world class firework show after that the attendees of the event and also the neighbors that are around the Rose Bowl can enjoy. So we’re excited that we’re going back to our roots a little bit here and doing a soccer match with fireworks to follow.”

It is not known if the after-match fireworks show will be presented as “AmericaFest.” Pasadena Now has reached out to the pyrotechnic company responsible for the fireworks for the show in previous years.

According to ESPN, 70,000-plus tickets were already sold for the soccer match in February when that event was rescheduled. 

The ticket sales puts the match on course to potentially break Major League Soccer’s single-game attendance record of 74,479.

The event is projected to make hundreds of thousands of dollars for the stadium. 

The Rose Bowl Operating Company (RBOC) is looking for ways to increase stadium revenue.  

The fiscal year 2023 budget plan for the Rose Bowl Operating Company projected a loss of $2.8 million. The RBOC’s operating reserves would cover the loss.

This would have been the 97th annual AmericaFest. 

According to Nina Chomsky, president of the Linda Vista Annandale Association, a nearby neighborhood group, was not told of the changes to the schedule. 

A sold-out soccer match could have major traffic impacts in the Arroyo. 

“We just followed the ‘news’ from the RBOC,” Chomsky told Pasadena Now. “We at LVAA had no way to comment or suggest alternatives.  It was all presented as a ‘done deal.’”

Tens of thousands of people typically attend the AmericaFest event for a day full of tailgating, celebration, and entertainment, including a motorcycle stunt show and a world-renowned fireworks display.