SCRANTON -- In less than 24 hours, the Electric City will be putting on its fireworks extravaganza to celebrate the nation`s birthday.
This year's party is getting a very special visit from a very important person all the way from the White House.
Vice President and Scranton native Joe Biden will be on hand for the festivities.
Sawhorses were going up along the streets around Courthouse Square in Scranton as crews put the finishing touches in place for the Electric City`s Fourth of July celebration.
Organized by Scrantastic Spectacular, this party has a very important guest of honor: Vice President and Scranton native Joe Biden.
For people here in Scranton knowing the vice president is coming is reason enough to attend the festivities.
“He`s a big deal. He`s a very big deal, Joe,” said Meme Bissland. “I`m very happy that we have a Scranton native as the vice president of the United States.”
“I’m a history nerd so anything that marks a pivotal point in history, even for the culture of Scranton, excites me,” said Katie Buckley. “So I am super excited about it.”
And having a vice president visit as part of the Fourth of July party means big bucks for downtown business.
Here at Carl Von Luger`s Steakhouse, Tuesday's patio seating is sold out but there`s also going to be a street-side cook-out for those walking by.
“There`s going to be tons of people down here so we`re going to have hamburgers, hotdogs,” said head chef Michael McCully. “We`re going to have sodas for the kids, we`re going to do cotton candy, Sno-cones, it`s really going to be a nice event.”
There will be extra security in place around courthouse square but managers at Traxx at the Radisson Lackawanna Station Hotel and Kildare`s say their outdoors spots are hassle-free places to take in the show.
“The Fourth of July downtown is always fantastic, the fireworks are great,” said Radisson General Manager Michael Kearney. “But there`s just going to be just so much extra energy with the vice president here and just so many other things going on downtown.”
“Not many places can say that they`re going to have the VP of America for their fireworks display,” said Kildare’s General Manager Simon Hewson “Maybe he`ll stop in for a pint of Guinness or something to eat before he goes to the fireworks, so we`ll see.”
Vice President Joe Biden is expected to make his speech on Courthouse Square at 7:30 Tuesday night.
The fireworks display is expected to happen after 9 p.m.