South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem announced during her June 4 press briefing that the fireworks event July 3 at Mount Rushmore is still underway. An event that President Trump will attend. 

“There will be no better place to celebrate our independence, and we are excited that President Trump will be joining us for this event,” Noem said. 

People looking to attend will need to purchase tickets, with only 7500 being sold lottery style. 

South Dakota Secretary of Tourism Jim Hagen described the lottery process. Aspiring ticket holders can go to recreation.gov starting at 9 a.m. central time on June 5. The lottery will remain open until Monday at midnight. Individuals will be notified June 12 if they were one of the 7500 ticket winners. 

South Dakota is working with the secret service to organize security for the mass amount of people and the presence of the president.

“We are doing everything we can to work diligently to make this a safe and fun event for all attendees,” Hagen said. 

Apart from the anticipated large turnout for the beginning of July, Hagen said that consumer sentiment about travel is improving. People are planning to visit South Dakota late summer to early fall. 

Noem said that with the spike in travel, there will be an increase in COVID-19 positive cases. However, she anticipates seeing this wave in numbers for the coming months.

As for the fireworks event in July, Noem declared that there are no current plans to implement social distancing measures for the event. However, she urges people who feel sick or are a part of a vulnerable population to refrain from attending.

“We are ready to put on a show and celebrate America’s birthday,” Hagen said.

Any questions related to the event can be found on travelsouthdakota.com