HAZLETON, Pa. — The city of Hazleton said goodbye to 2020 with a bang.
Folks gathered on New Year's Eve to enjoy a fireworks show to welcome in the new and hopefully happier year.
The sky above City View Park was illuminated with a dazzling light show as firework after firework exploded over those gathered to watch the display.
Organized by city officials, Hazleton's mayor said after living through most of the year in a pandemic, he felt the people of his city needed to say goodbye to 2020 with a bang and a boom.
People at the park agreed this was the perfect way to end this surreal year by doing what they would typically do to celebrate New Year's Eve.
"I'm really glad that they decided to do something, just to get everybody out of the house and give somebody a sense of normalcy because this year has been ridiculous," laughed Crystal Kowalski.
"Even though it's been a terrible year, it's like, I love it. It was really nice. I thank the mayor for doing this,” said 12-year-old Lirianis Santiago.
This New Year's Eve celebration was different than the celebration the city threw for the Fourth of July, where there were food vendors and live music with the fireworks display at the end of the evening.
This time there were just fireworks, and folks came to the park watched from their cars or watched the show from their homes.
Earlier this month, the city did have vendors and live music at its first-ever Winterfest held for one day at City View Park.
Hazleton Mayor Jeff Cusat says they talked for years about having an end-of-the-year celebration and knew they had to do something as they leave 2020 behind.
"This was the perfect year to start doing it. We did our Winterfest up here, and it was just so nicely decorated, so we figured, let's just do it this year, end this 2020 already, and move on,” said Cusat.
"I just hope that the new year brings hope,” said Santiago.
The mayor hopes to make Winterfest an annual thing, to run through the month of December and end with a fireworks celebration on New Year's Eve.