AmericaFest at the Rose Bowl has been squashed due to budget reasons, but this MLS match certainly isn’t a bad subsitute. For the second straight year, the L.A. Galaxy and LAFC will play in Pasadena on July 4, with a post-match fireworks show shot off from the adjacent Brookside Golf Course.
With the match slated to start at 7:30pm, expect the fireworks to commence around 9:45pm. If you’re not interested in the soccer part, you’ll only be able watch the fireworks from the areas around—but not in—the Arroyo. This is where things get a little tricky this year: Traditionally most people flock toward the Colorado Street Bridge and the neighborhoods west of the 210, as well as parking garage rooftops in Old Pasadena for a somewhat distant show. But AmericaFest only had patchy attendance in part of the stadium, whereas the hometown soccer rivalry will bring 70,000-plus ticketholders to the stadium and countless others in nearby bars—in other words, expect things to be more crowded than in years past.