Stadium of Fire will return July 3, with fireworks, motorcycle stunts and country stars

Stadium of Fire, Provo’s Fourth of July extravaganza, will return this summer after a year off because of the COVID-19 pandemic — with two country performers, motorcycle stunts, a flyover of military jets, and what’s billed as the nation’s largest stadium fireworks show.

America’s Freedom Festival, the group that throws the annual event, announced that the show will return to LaVell Edwards Stadium on the Brigham Young University campus on Saturday, July 3.

The show will mark the Stadium of Fire’s 40th anniversary — a celebration intended for last year, until the show was canceled because of COVID-19.

Tickets go on sale on freedomfestival.org, on Wednesday, May 19 — at 10 a.m. for Freedom Festival email subscribers, and at 1 p.m. for everyone.

Headlining the concert will be country star Lee Greenwood, best known for his patriotic hit “God Bless the U.S.A.” Also on the bill are: Nitro Circus, the Utah-born motorcycle stunt team founded by Travis Pastrana and his friends; country singer Collin Raye; the Millennial Choirs & Orchestras, performing songs from its album “To Be American”; plus, to kick off the show, skydivers and a flyover by F-35 jets from Hill Air Force Base.

Greenwood performed at Stadium of Fire in 1984, the show’s fifth year. He was the event’s first performer who wasn’t a member of the Osmond family; he shared the bill with Donny, Marie and Jimmy Osmond. Brothers Merrill and Alan Osmond founded the show.

Both country singers have been associated with conservative causes and candidates.

Greenwood has befriended the last two Republican presidents. George W. Bush named Greenwood to the National Council on the Arts in 2008. He performed at one of Donald Trump’s pre-inauguration events in 2017, and Trump appointed him to the board of trustees for Washington’s Kennedy Center in 2019.

Raye made news last summer when he headlined an outdoor concert in Cedar City, a rally organized by the anti-mask group Utah Business Revival to protest COVID-19 restrictions. The concert was first scheduled to take place in Kaysville, then in Grantsville — and was canceled in both cities after objections from local officials.