Fourth of July fireworks are costing central Florida cities, private companies and public sponsors alike thousands of dollars. Despite the struggling economy, though, these groups are still managing to put together events just like in years past.

It will be an Independence Day celebration at Celebration Town Center. The '70s themed "Flashback 4th of July" Spectacular is an event the town center has been hosting since its inception in 1996.

"Part of what makes Celebration unique is the special events," says Mike Nunez, public relations/marketing director of the Celebration Town Center. "People have come to expect something different out of Celebration."

Nunez wouldn't say how much the town center is spending on the fireworks for the flashback event, but the money is coming from sponsors and Lexin Capital, the company that owns the town center.

"We just had to be a little bit more thrifty in how we spent, but because of our long history of doing events out here, we found that the vendors that we work with were very willing to work with us to make sure we have a successful event, and that we didn't sacrifice any quality," Nunez says.

Kissimmee and its co-sponsors for the July Fourth celebration will be shelling out over $1,000 per minute for its fireworks display. Dan Loubier, director of the City of Kissimmee's Parks and Recreation department, said the fireworks that Premier Pyrotechnics is setting off during the event will cost $28,000.

The show will last "about 25 minutes," Loubier says.

The City of Oviedo has also planned a fireworks display that will be potentially longer than Kissimmee's, but at a fraction of the price. Recreations Superintendent David Burgoon says the city budgeted approximately $21,000 for the July Fourth festivities, and almost half the total has been dedicated to the cost of the pyrotechnics: $10,000.

"The fireworks are anywhere from 22 to 28 minutes," Burgoon says. He says the event is being funded through the City of Oviedo's special events budget, donations and sponsorships.

Burgoon says the idea of canceling the fireworks was brought up, but the City of Oviedo decided the display was too important to abandon.

"It has been brought up in discussions, but with our community, we feel that our residents...it gives them an 'out' from the way the economy is. It gives them something to do, and we feel it's very important that we try to move on with our event," Burgoon says.

The City of Orlando is hosting its annual Fireworks at the Fountain event at Lake Eola Park. Cox Events Group will foot the $26,000 bill for the fireworks, which is less than what it could be spending. This year, the City of Orlando will reduce the length of the fireworks show from 20 minutes to 15 in order to save money.

"We anticipated that this year would be a tougher year to secure corporate sponsors, so by reducing the time of the show, we were able to reduce the cost and make sure that we had corporate dollars to cover those costs," says Michele Brennan, director of communications for the City of Orlando.

Despite the reduced costs being spent, Brennan says the show will still be top notch: "The Fireworks at the Fountain is a great example of how we're still able to produce quality, wonderful events at no cost to the taxpayers."

For more information about The Fireworks at the Fountain, visit http://www.cityoforlando.net/.