Provo cheers for freedom -- and Jonas Brothers

Provo » Independence Day here began with a light drizzle and ended in a blaze of Old Glory.

The climax of this year's Stadium of Fire consisted of the retirement of the Fourth of July show's giant flag.

Brad Pelo, the show's producer, said the giant flag, which also flew at the U.S. Olympic headquarters during the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, is 10 years old and is starting to wear.

Instead of performers carrying the flag onto the field at LaVell Edwards Stadium, two cranes hoisted it up for the audience to see until near the end of the show, when it was ceremonially lowered into the arms of a military honor guard in full-dress uniforms. The soldiers carried it to a

caldron on the football field near a replica of the Statue of Liberty's torch, where it was burned.

Pelo said the flag-retirement ceremony was meant as a solemn event, not a celebratory one.

There was plenty of time, however, for cutting loose. Utah-based country band SHeDAISY performed to loud cheers, but the loudest were for the Jonas Brothers, who appeared at the show as part of their world tour. Screaming fans pushed at barricades on the field, waving signs showing their love for the three New Jersey-born brothers.

Also in the show was Fox News commentator Glenn Beck. He was hosting for the third consecutive year, and warned the more than 40,000 people attending that the nation is facing trouble, and it is up to them to save it by standing up for "decency and goodness."

"We need to pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor," Beck said, quoting from the Declaration of Independence.

While the sky over the stadium was overcast, the weather mostly cooperated. That wasn't so true earlier in the day when it literally rained on the festival's Grand Parade. But it did little to dampen people's spirits.

For many, the shower, near the start of the parade, took the edge off the Independence Day heat and made watching or participating in the parade a bit more comfortable.

"It was kind of nice," said Brittanie Lunt, who was watching the parade from a University Avenue spot that her husband staked out Friday afternoon. "It cooled everyone off," she said.

Her favorite part: Coming early and letting the kids play while waiting for the festivities to begin.

This year's parade offered the traditional mix of marching bands, pageant royalty, elected officials and giant inflatable balloons. Parade organizers were expecting 250,000 people to line University Avenue and Center Street for the event.

David Turner said his daughter and her boyfriend went ahead and claimed a spot

for the family on the east side of University Avenue. He figures he has been coming to the parade and Stadium of Fire since he was about 3.

"It's just being with the family and being with all the people," Turner said.

Eight-year-old Sandra Riser, of Orem, picked what she thought was the spot that would give her the best views: The roundabout on Center Street and 700 East. She liked having the parade come straight at her. Her favorite: the marching bands.

Tracy Farnsworth, who came down from Pocatello, Idaho, to watch with his sister, Karlyn Norton, of Orem, serenaded each marching group with an appropriate song on his flugelhorn, a cross between a trombone and a trumpet.

"I play for an hour and a half before the parade, and I try to find some song that matches the float," Farnsworth said, before playing "The Caissons Go Rolling Along" as a group of vintage military vehicles carrying veterans proceeded down the street.

Provo's Municipal Council members also were there, riding in a variety of vehicles.

But Municipal Councilman Steve Turley was riding something a little more fuel-efficient, a Radio Flyer red wagon pulled by his sons Niels and Christian.

"Times are tough," Turley quipped. "We couldn't afford fuel."

This year's Stadium of Fire had a title sponsor, Orem-based Maakoa, a multilevel marketing company that sells nutritional drinks.

dmeyers@sltrib.com