Fireworks are back for Big Bang on the Bay this Independence Day, but this is the last year the Coastal Commission will allow them, the state agency said at its meeting Friday. Starting next year, it will have to be a drone show, the commissioners ruled in a unanimous vote.
Coastal Commission staff had recommended eliminating the fireworks show immediately, but after hearing dueling comments from the event’s organizer, Long Beach restaurateur John Morris, and some Long Beach residents voicing environmental concerns, the Coastal Commission gave Morris a temporary reprieve.
The amended permit allows one more year of a 20-minute fireworks show shot from a barge in Alamitos Bay on July 3.
This year’s event will take place as usual, with a block party fundraiser at a closed-off portion of North Marina Drive just north of Morris’ restaurant, Boathouse on the Bay.
Each year, the block party draws roughly 1,300 attendees, each charged an entrance fee, with all proceeds going to local charities. Another estimated 125,000 people watch the show from around Alamitos Bay, Morris told the commission.
Long Beach officials pushed hard for this year’s event to continue without disruption.
“Big Bang on the Bay brings people together, supports good causes and opens up our coast to those who might not experience it otherwise,” said Long Beach District 3 Councilmember Kristina Duggan.
District 7 Councilmember Roberto Uranga, who serves on the Coastal Commission, said the event is vital for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Long Beach.
“The way I see it is 20 minutes of fireworks versus what can be a lifetime of effects on kids if they don’t receive the funds necessary for them to continue with programs, tutoring, counseling [and] field trips,” Uranga said.
Big Bang on the Bay was started by Morris in 2011. Since then, the event has raised $1.7 million for local charities, according to Morris.
This is not the first time Morris has sparred with the Coastal Commission.
He produced the fireworks show through an expedited exemption process until 2023, when the Coastal Commission began requiring more rigorous approvals.
In recent years, the Coastal Commission began receiving complaints that the fireworks show was affecting water quality and harming migratory birds.
Morris won a court battle over pollution concerns in 2023, then handed over organizing duties to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Long Beach for the 2024 event.
Last year’s fireworks show took place on Sept. 1 after the Boys & Girls Clubs of Long Beach learned they did not submit the coastal permit application far enough in advance for a July 3 show.
Morris stepped in again this year to take over the permitting process.
Ahead of next year’s event, Coastal Commission staff will meet Morris and city of Long Beach officials at least once every three months to discuss plans to transition the event to a fireworks-free drone display.
The two sides aim to have a plan for a July 3 drone show in place by Jan. 31, 2026.
Morris, who attended the meeting in Half Moon Bay, said having a drone show instead of fireworks could affect his ability to secure donations for the fundraiser attached to the event.
“I’m a fireworks guy,” Morris told the commission. But he said he was willing to work with the new restrictions.