VIDALIA — The U.S. national anthem speaks of bombs bursting in air, and Wednesday night the Miss-Lou gathered on the banks of the Mississippi to watch just that.

The area’s annual Fourth of July fireworks display was Wednesday night.

Overcast skies earlier in the evening had led some to speculate the show would be cancelled, but by the time came for it to start, everything had cleared.

Sitting on the Vidalia Riverwalk, Natchez residents Ed and Marie Tucker said they like to come to the display because it gives them a chance to see old friends.

“Knowing the whole community is here gives you a good feeling,” Marie Tucker said.

Ed agreed.

“It’s a good patriotic time that brings people together,” he said.

When the show began, the crowd gave a collective gasp as sonic booms echoed off of the Natchez bluffs and the sky was filled with a rainbow of explosions.

Red, green, blue, yellow and purple streaks filled the sky and fell like a slow phosphorescent rain.

After the show ended, Lake St. John resident Veronica Plaisance said it was amazing.

“It was awesome,” she said. “It was so big.”

At least one Miss-Lou resident didn’t like the display, though.

Two-year-old Allison Brown, of Natchez, let out a shriek of terror and hid her face when the first shell exploded.

Pointing to the sky, she said, “Lights scare me!”

Tommy Bradley, Allison’s mother, said the reaction wasn’t what she had hoped for, but it wasn’t unexpected.

“She was scared last year,” Bradley said. “I hoped she had gotten big enough to handle it this year, but I guess not.”