As American flags wave in the wind and the feeling of patriotism sweeps through the city like wildfire, people of Carbondale can expect to see a slight change in celebrations Friday night.

Residents from all of southern Illinois will come to watch the fireworks and celebrations that are set to take place at 9 p.m. in Carbondale’s SuperBlock located behind University Mall and North Street.

Minor changes will be made to this year’s fireworks according to its sponsors, The Carbondale Convention and Tourism Bureau. Changes made will consist of the direction of fireworks and installing more traffic patrol.

Cinnamon Smith, Carbondale Tourism executive director, said the changes are mostly because of budget cost.

“We are mostly trying to have fewer low line fireworks [this year] and more higher up ones because we know that some people like to sit higher to watch them,” Smith said.

City Manager Kevin Baity said that parking will be limited in some areas but everyone should be able to enjoy the celebrations.

“There will be areas you wont be able to enter but places such as Carbondale Middle School and Carbondale Community High School will be available to park in,” he said.

It is recommended that people come early for the fireworks as traffic will build up quickly and there will be some parking that will be closed off.

Baity said he hopes that next year the fireworks will be moved to the new water park, which is planned to be completed in May 2015.

“The entire display should last from 25-30 minutes so it should be a nice time for everyone,” he said.

Marcus Gruwell can be reached at [email protected]