The Vicksburg Independence Day Fireworks Celebration will begin at 7 p.m. in downtown Vicksburg on Tuesday.

Vicksburg-based band The Chill will begin the party, performing classic hits for the crowd at the Old Depot Museum stage. The fireworks display begins at 9 p.m., with fireworks launched from a barge in the Yazoo River.

This is Mayor George Flaggs Jr.’s 10th fireworks show as mayor of the city. Flaggs said he is very excited about the event.

“It’s probably one of the best public events and community events that we have besides the Miss Mississippi Pageant,” Flaggs said, adding that this year will be “bigger and better than ever.”

The fireworks operation is run by Louisiana-based company Pyroman LLC. The owner, Craig George, has led efforts for the show for more than 20 years and operates about 50 shows every year across the region.

“(We’ll have) a lot of aerial shells; those are the ones that go way up in the air and break apart. And we also will have a lot of what we call ‘low level,’ which is kind of similar to what you find on the fireworks stand, but a commercial grade of that,” George said. “At (Vicksburg’s) show, we shoot up to six-inch shells.”

At approximately 45 minutes long, Vicksburg’s fireworks display has the longest running time of any fireworks display in the state of Mississippi.

The event is free to the public.