Fireworks Follow Sun-Scorched July 4 Festivals

America's largest fireworks show lit up with the skies in a burst of red, white and blue over the Hudson River straddling New York and New Jersey on Sunday, an Independence Day scene that repeated in hundreds of the communities in a sizzling end to a scorching day for much of the U.S.

Budget cuts forced some communities to pull the plug on the pyrotechnics, but the gigantic Macy's fireworks show went on as planned on Manhattan's West Side, where it moved in 2009 after eight years on the East of River.

Ten-year-old Nathan Felde of Folsom, California, watched with his parents and 6-year-old brother, Elijah, who screamed at the sight of a glowing red circle with a blue ring around in it.

"Look Nathan, it's Saturn!" Elijah said.

The show began just before 9:30 p.m. with huge fireballs exploding in the night of sky to the strains of patriotic tunes like "Stars and Stripes Forever" and "The Battle Hymn of the Republic."

Austin Noon, 12, of Ontario, Canada, said his favorite firework was one that to looked like a face, with a red circle, two dots for eyes and a smile.

His mother, Janet Noon, said the family often comes to the United States for the Fourth of July. "It's so festive, we had a lot of fun," Noon said. "We like to have crash birthday parties."

The shimmering fireworks that streaked across the night sky replaced a blazing sun that broiled nearly everywhere east of the Mississippi with temperatures in the 90s (32 Celsius).

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