Fourth of July fireworks shows divide California: ‘Left-wing lunacy' or basic sanity?

LOS ANGELES - John Morris was eager to mark the 250th anniversary of America with his annual fireworks show at Alamitos Bay.

Then, he discovered the California Coastal Commission would only approve a show using lighted drones, not real fireworks. He couldn't believe it.

"Of course it's going to be about fireworks," Morris told the commission at a hearing last year. "So we're going to be the only ones in the country who can't do fireworks? Gotta be kidding me."

Morris tried to appeal the decision this year, but the board upheld its call. So, after 14 years, he canceled the Big Bang on the Bay celebration.

The event, which has drawn 1,300 people to Alamitos Bay and more than 100,000 to nearby beaches for a 20-minute extravaganza, is the latest fireworks show to go dark, but it likely won't be the last.

Big fireworks shows are on the decline in California amid a variety of factors including increased regulations, litigation by environmental groups and public concern about pollution and wildfires.

The transition is underway at plenty of Californians' favorite spots.

In the last few years, Fourth of July shows at the Rose Bowl, Grand Park in downtown, Hansen Dam in the San Gabriel Valley, Morro Bay on the Central Coast and at Lake Cunningham in San José have all moved from fireworks to drones. Next year, the Port of San Diego's Big Bay Boom show could also become a drone show at the behest of the Coastal Commission.

"Every show is analyzed on a case-by-case basis, but there has been direction from the commission to see a transition to drones," said Jeff Palm, an analyst with the California Coastal Commission.

The commission, tasked with protecting waters, marine life, environment and access to the state's coast, has used its jurisdiction to steer groups toward drones, which are seen as being more environmentally friendly than fireworks. Some organizers have adopted the change on their own, looking to entertain spectators with a new technology that offers a different kind of show.

Some argue the switch to drones makes perfect sense, allowing big entertainment value without the environmental and public safety trade-offs.

But to traditionalists like Morris, it's just not the same without the real explosions.

Like so many things in California, the fireworks debate has entered the culture wars this summer, with right-wing influencers slamming the anti-fireworks crowd, specifically targeting the Coastal Commission's executive director, Kate Huckelbridge, for scorn.

Fireworks are a hot political issue in Southern California, in part due to the proliferation of illegal fireworks set off around the region on and around July 4. Those pyrotechnics have led to fires and serious casualties. To some, it makes regulated, organized fireworks show all the more important as an alternative.

In April, Congressman Ken Calvert, R-Corona, introduced a bill to temporarily waive regulations at the state and federal levels that limit fireworks for the nation's upcoming 250th birthday. It remains in committee.

"Americans celebrate Independence Day by eating hot dogs, apple pie and watching fireworks - and I'm not going to let left-wing lunatics stop that," Calvert said in announcing the bill.

He later told The Times in an interview, "These communities want to have a fireworks display, a traditional firework show. C'mon, this is crazy."

Huckelbridge, who has led the commission for three years, said the board stands by its Long Beach decision and wasn't surprised the community was unhappy, recognizing the event doubles as a fundraiser for local programs.

"It's unfortunate it's become a political issue," she said.

So, on May 1, the Coastal Commission sent Morris a letter presenting a couple of alternatives for his show: Go with drones, as they'd previously suggested, or launch fireworks from "an adjacent location along the Long Beach shoreline that is still visible from the event location."

Morris dismissed the offer.

"I never responded to it; they're just covering their ass," Morris said. "They just want to push their agenda of drone shows."

The same day Morris' show was officially kaput, the city of Long Beach applied to put on its own, in tandem with the Queen Mary's fireworks display in the port. The city-owned Queen Mary is not under the jurisdiction of the Coastal Commission due to its location, but the city's fireworks expansion outside the port is. The permit, approved by the commission, was for this year only.

Businesses looking to capitalize on the holiday celebrations are learning to play both sides of the fence between drones and fireworks.

Stephen Vitale, chief executive of Pyrotecnico, a Pennsylvania-based company that bills itself as the country's largest provider of fireworks shows, has seen the growing popularity of drone shows across the country and, four years ago, added drones to its arsenal.

"It's great, it tells a story, it creates its own ‘oohs' and ‘aahs' with spectators and people love them," Vitale said. "Our existing clients started asking if we did it."

Vitale doesn't see fireworks and drones as competing media, or one replacing the other any time soon. Across the U.S., the demand for both is thriving, he said, although he does see some pockets of the country increasingly looking at drones because of environmental issues or fire risks.

"It's not really a drone versus firework situation for us," he said. "Fireworks hit all five senses, and drones sort of do as well. Our clients in fireworks wanted drones as well."

Last year, Vitale said, Pyrotecnico set up 80 drone shows across the country, and this year, they're looking to double that number.

Drone shows, which take longer to plan out, are still costlier for the customer than a fireworks show similar in time and scope, he said, but he expects that the price differences may even out in the coming years as technology improves.

Drones can tell a better story, he said, but the demand for fireworks is still out there, fueled by nostalgia.

It can lead to cities vacillating between honoring old traditions and starting new ones, as exemplified by three SoCal beach cities.

In 2024, Laguna Beach and Redondo Beach both went to drone shows before returning to fireworks in 2025. In Goleta, however, the transition to drones last year stuck, with another show approved for the upcoming Fourth.

The connection between fireworks, which were invented in China, and American independence goes back to the country's earliest days. Many point to a letter John Adams sent his wife in 1776, in which he told her that the country's independence from then on should be celebrated with "Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations."

In the letter, however, Adams believed the country's independence would be celebrated on July 2, the day the Continental Congress actually voted in favor of independence, according to the National Archives. Instead, the day of celebration would become July 4, the day it approved the Declaration of Independence.

In California, fireworks celebrations go back more than 140 years. A July 1, 1882, Los Angeles Daily Times article described an upcoming show in the L.A. area with "Assorted sky rockets with golden rain meteors." An 1886 article described a Long Beach celebration as a "grand display of fireworks from the ocean wharf."

It's not just the Coastal Commission looking to change the tide, but environmental groups as well. Last month, the Coastal Environmental Rights foundation settled a lawsuit it had filed against SeaWorld San Diego, alleging the park's fireworks shows off the water were bad for the environment.

"It's not a popular campaign," said Livia Beaudin, an attorney at Coast Law Group and CERF's legal director. "Fireworks are wrapped in this sentimentality and nostalgia, especially on July 4."

But rather than spend years in court and piles of cash in attorney fees, the park reached a settlement to transition away from fireworks and replace them with drone shows over time. The park had 110 drone shows approved by the commission for a one-year period, using up to 1,000 drones.

"It is getting more popular now that drones are getting more into the mainstream," Beaudin said. "With drones as an alternative, I think that it's an easier sell to the general public."

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This story was originally published July 2, 2026 at 5:08 AM.