Fourth of July revelers in the North Lake Tahoe area will experience visuals in the form of a waning crescent moon this weekend, as opposed to regularly scheduled fireworks.

According to the North Lake Tahoe Regional Association, the weekend’s events kicked off with the regular farmers market from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday at Tahoe City’s Commons Beach. Squaw begins SunSets, its regular Sunday live music acts, on Saturday with experimental reggae band Truth Cartel. The Brothers Comatose are playing at 8 p.m. at Crystal Bay Club that day.

In Incline Village, the “Local Heroes 4th of July Weekend” will include a meet and greet directly after the parade with the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office on Saturday. Parade vehicles will start at the Incline Substation at Sierra Nevada University, 999 Tahoe Blvd., Incline Village, at 11:30 a.m.

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The North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District is hosting its annual pancake breakfast Saturday morning at the Incline Station.

On July Fourth, the Veterans Club is hosting its annual Pancake Breakfast at Aspen Grove, 960 Lakeshore Blvd. The Firecracker Race, a fundraiser for the Cross Country Team, will happen at 8 a.m. at Sierra Nevada University.

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Those unsatisfied by the crescent moon can find fireworks in South Lake Tahoe, close to Hard Rock Hotel & Casino and near the casino corridor. The show will start around 9:20 p.m. on the Fourth of July.

According to a press release issued by the Tahoe Fuel and Fire Team, an organization made up of several partners including the Tahoe Resource Conservation District and the Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District, individuals who use fireworks that cause fires could face arson charges.

SUSTAINABLE TOURISM

Amy Berry, with the Tahoe Fund, said the weekend will highlight the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency’s effort to manage sustainable tourism this season.

Berry said there will be 75 ambassadors, located around trailheads, beaches and other high recreation sites around the lake this weekend.

“Their role is to be friendly, welcoming, informative helpers,” Berry said, adding that the warm greeting is also an invitation to “blaze a trail of kindness” and environmental conscientiousness.

Berry said the Tahoe community hopes visitors pick up after themselves, and keeps the region pet friendly by picking up after their pets.

Berry said visitors ought to remember to lock up their trash.

“Let’s not have any unnecessary wildlife,” Berry said.

Berry also reminded Tahoe visitors to drink Tahoe tap.

“People come through with plastic bottles when we have the best drinking water in the country,“ Berry sad.

Berry reinforced that officials’ biggest concern for the weekend is the fire risk. No open flames are permitted anywhere in the region’s campgrounds.

Fourth of July festivities will conclude Monday with a Red, White and Blue Clean Up at four locations around the lake — Commons Beach, Kings Beach, Nevada Beach and Regan Beach. If tourists are unable to manage their trash, Keep Tahoe Blue has planned to convene volunteers at designated locations on those beaches at 8:30 a.m.

Tahoe Fund’s Community Engagement Manager Marilee Movius said volunteers committed to clean up this particular weekend have collected 9,000 pounds since 2014.

Movius said although Lake Tahoe sees four times the amount of annual visitors as Yellowstone, it does not have the staff or funding allotted to national parks to specifically respond to tourists’ needs on the trails or the lake itself.

“We have a responsibility to protect Tahoe,“ Movius said, adding that the organization’s advocacy efforts are meant to stop the littering problem before it starts.

Movius said she is unsure how many visitors will come but is looking forward to people incorporating the clean up event into their vacation.

Jeffery Hentz, North Lake Tahoe Resort Association CEO, said he does not know how many visitors will come in for the holiday, but that the organization’s lodging partners have full bookings.

Hentz said fireworks have been an annual ritual, but the organizations that usually offer protective duty took a lot of consideration before opting out this year.

Rebecca O’Neil is a staff writer with the Sierra Sun and The Union, a sister publication of the Sun