Grand Park party-goers settle in for music, fireworks

A little removed from the crowds and the live-music stages at Grand Park’s Fourth of July block party, 18-year-old Emily-Kathryn Hoey and 17-year-old Parker Seal sat under a tree where they had set up a picnic.

They had arrived on the Gold Line from the Pasadena area, lugging a cooler, speakers, snacks, board games and a blanket with them.

“I really want to see Phantogram,� Emily-Kathryn said, referring to one of the bands playing at the event. “I wanted to support my girlfriend,� Parker said, and they both laughed.

Emily-Kathryn said the event had been advertised on the radio and she was sold on attending because of the free fireworks.

“We’re broke students,� she said.

Fanning themselves, Yesehia Solis, 25, and Mario Guillen, 23, sat with her mother and his father across the street from the stage where Echosmith played.

The couple lives in Koreatown and decided to bring their parents with them to the block party after Solis saw a photograph of fireworks set off at the event on a friend’s Instagram last year.

“I was like, what do you mean there were fireworks downtown?� she said.

Last year, Solis watched fireworks from afar at her mother’s house in Hollywood. She wanted to see them closer up this year.

“The closer, the better, so we’re here,� she said.

The fireworks show will begin at 9 p.m. The display includes 1,935 shell counts and will be shot up to 400 feet in the air. This is the first time downtown Los Angeles will see a rooftop fireworks display of this size in 10 years.

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