Lonestar to fire up festivities

Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Mar 6, 2005 by Rodger L. Hardy Deseret Morning News

PROVO -- Lonestar, one of country music's most celebrated groups, will ride into the Stadium of Fire as the headliner of the 25th anniversary of the Fourth of July event.

This year, however, the celebration is Saturday, July 2, at LaVell Edwards Stadium on the Brigham Young University campus.

Representatives of America's Freedom Festival, the nonprofit group that organizes the event annually, made the announcement at the BYU-University of Nevada at Las Vegas basketball game halftime show in the Marriott Center.

A spectacular indoor fireworks show punctuated the announcement.

The theme for the 2005 Stadium of Fire is "Family, Service and Celebration." Entertainer Alan Osmond originated the show, foundation board chairman David McDougal said. Osmond will receive a salute from the sons of the Osmonds' singing group, The Osmonds- Second Generation, as they highlight Stadium of Fire's silver anniversary, McDougal said.

Lonestar has had 10 No. 1 hits on the Billboard music charts, with their tune "I'm Already There" named recently as country music's Song of the Year.

Among the group's other songs are "Amazed," "My Front Porch Looking In" and the group's most recent No. 1 hit, "Mr. Mom."

Additionally, local musician Kurt Bestor and the Stadium of Fire Orchestra will present his original arrangement of "Music of America," which was commissioned for this 25th anniversary event. Choreographed fireworks and high-energy dancing of nearly 1,000 dancers will create pageantry on the field, foundation trustee Brad Pelo said.

Other featured entertainment will include:

-- The 250-member American Fork High School Marching Band, which performed in the presidential inaugural parade Jan. 20 in Washington, D.C.

-- The Hope of America Children's Chorus, with 4,000 voices from around Utah Valley.

Other top music stars and celebrity presenters will be announced later, Pelo said.

Included with the spectacular fireworks display will be the exploding of 1 million or more firecrackers, said Beth Black, president of America's Freedom Festival. The fireworks display will include a show inside the stadium and an aerial show, she said.

For the third straight year, the show will be broadcast to U.S. military troops around the world, McDougal said. Charles F. Gayton and Wayne Baruch, award-winning producers, will create the show. The team has put together other live-entertainment productions, including Olympic opening celebrations and national commemorations, McDougal said.

Tickets can be purchased over the Internet starting at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, April 9, at www.byutickets.com. The show has been a sellout the past three years, organizers say.

Ticket orders can be phoned in by calling 801-422-BYU1 or toll free at 1-800-322-BYU1. The Marriott Center ticket office is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday, April 9, when it will open at 8 a.m. and close at 5 p.m.

E-mail: rodger@desnews.com