NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — The free Stars in the Sky celebration at Victory Landing Park will now begin at 7 p.m. instead of 5 p.m. Saturday because of the heat. Fireworks will still be at 9 p.m.
Torrance Archie, the director of the city's Parks and Recreation Department, said the city has been closely monitoring the weather.
"We've been paying very close attention to the weather and how it's going to be hot out here, so we decided to push it back a little bit to mitigate some of the heat that's coming our way," Archie said.
The free event features a DJ and a United States Air Force Heritage of America Band.
Archie said organizers are hopeful conditions will improve by the time the event begins, but they have precautions in place.
"By 7 we are hoping it'll cool down some, but we do understand it's still gonna be pretty humid and there's gonna be heat of course, but we've got some things in place like a cooling tent - plenty of water stations available to our patrons and our citizens," Archie said.
Archie said city leadership will continue to evaluate whether further adjustments are needed.
"We're going to hold it at this point, but we're not against canceling if we have to cancel so that's one of the things we're going to do is reconvene a little later," Archie said.
Nearby businesses are expecting a busy evening. Owen King owns Ironclad Distilling and said the business is staying open later than normal.
"Before the event we've definitely been the stop before the fireworks," King said.
King said the business is prepared for the heat as well.
"We made sure our AC is all charged up it's ready to go it'll be nice and cool in here," King said.
Despite the heat, Archie said he is looking forward to the event.
"Try Newport News we're definitely looking forward to putting on a great event for everyone," Archie said.
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