Long Beach fireworks fans are furious over the cancellation a Fourth of July display over bird concerns — forcing Gov. Gavin Newsom to probe the issue ahead of a planned blowout celebrating America’s 250th birthday.
Fourth of July revelers were crestfallen after Long Beach axed its “Big Bang on the Bay” for the first time in 15 years after the California Coastal Commission denied the use of pyrotechnics over pollution fears.
“We’ve been going for years. All our friends are talking about how they’ll really miss it,” Long Beach resident Kimberly Oshann told The Post.
“The Founding Fathers would be very upset,” added David Newell, another disappointed resident. “Let’s have a little tradition, a little pride.”
The pyrotechnics were scrapped in favor of a drone show, which another resident, Ed Lippert, called “crap.”
Thousands typically gather to watch the fireworks over Alamitos Bay on the evening of July 3, but this year’s spectacle, coinciding with America’s 250th anniversary celebration, was tweaked by a five-year permit approved last year in which the city agreed to switch to drones.
The California Coastal Commission cited concerns that the fireworks could pollute the bay or “disrupt herons and egrets nesting nearby,” the Long Beach Post reported.
“I believe I’m in the right, so I’m always going to fight,” organizer John Morris, who unsuccessfully appealed the decision, told the paper.
Newsom’s office weighed in Friday, writing on X that the “vendor AGREED last year that the show would move from a fireworks show to a drone show.”
Nonetheless, the governor is “looking into the matter,” the post continued.
