Fireworks, Pitbull light up Thursday night at Ribfest

If you're going to organize a massive summertime celebration, you've got to be able to be a little flexible.

Just ask the organizers of this week's Ribfest in Naperville, where Exchange Club members find themselves scrambling to keep up with unpredictable weather that forced them to close the grounds at Knoch Park twice on Wednesday and then again Thursday afternoon as fast-moving storms roared through.

Those storms forced organizers to push back their July 4 fireworks display to Thursday night, when the man-made pyrotechnics finally got a chance to show their stuff at 10 p.m. without Mother Nature's lightning getting in the way.

They also were able to have their headlining act — in this case Pitbull — step into the main stage spotlight without having to compete with crashes of thunder.

The experts say the weather is supposed to settle down for the last two days of the fest on Friday and Saturday.

The nasty weather has played havoc with fireworks shows elsewhere, too.

In Warrenville, officials have moved the July 4 show to 9 p.m. Friday in Cerny Park, 28W420 Forest View Drive. In Batavia, July 4 fireworks were delayed and shot off about 9 p.m. Thursday instead.

In Aurora, meanwhile, Independence Day fireworks have been pushed back to 9 p.m. Friday, July 27, where residents can view them from either RiverEdge Park, 360 N. Broadway, and McCullough Park, 128 W. Illinois Ave., in downtown.

Downtown Alive already has scheduled a concert that night at RiverEdge featuring Heartache Tonight, an Eagles tribute band, that will perform from 8 p.m. until the fireworks begin and then again after the fireworks.