Big Bang on the Bay, the July 3 fireworks show over Alamitos Bay, will be cancelled this year after a last-ditch effort to allow fireworks was voted down by the California Coastal Commission.
Without the fireworks, what’s the point, longtime organizer John Morris said.
Morris, who owns the nearby Boathouse on the Bay restaurant, originally hoped to put on a larger-than-usual pyrotechnics display to celebrate America’s 250th birthday, but in January, Coastal Commission staff told him no. On Wednesday, the full panel of commissioners unanimously upheld that decision despite Morris’ appeal, which included letters of support from local, state and federal politicians asking the commission to allow fireworks.
The denial didn’t come as a surprise. The Coastal Commission warned Morris last year that 2025 would be the last time they allowed fireworks at the Big Bang. They’ve pushed for years for him to move to drones, which they say are more environmentally friendly.
Morris made the seven-hour drive from Long Beach to the Coastal Commission meeting in the city of Gonzalez to plead his case to them in person. But he got up to head to his car as soon as he heard the first “no” vote.
“It’s mind-boggling the way they treated me,” said Morris, who has repeatedly criticized the commission and its staff, including during the public comment period at Wednesday’s meeting.
He said he still doesn’t understand why his fireworks weren’t permitted when other shows, like the one in San Diego, have continued.
On the drive home, Morris said, he received calls from numerous Long Beach residents who were in disbelief that the fireworks show wouldn’t happen for the first time since it began in 2011.
Morris said the fireworks were the key to the Big Bang, which is a fundraiser for Long Beach charities. Donors kick in to pay for the show and the rest — close to $2 million over the years — goes to local nonprofits.
Morris estimated that “more than 50%” of his donors would not accept seeing a drone show instead. A drone show would also be roughly $140,000 more expensive to put on and cut significantly into the fundraiser’s proceeds, according to Morris.
Coastal Commission staff said they considered all of those factors, but deemed that drones are still less likely to pollute the bay or disrupt herons and egrets nesting nearby.
Morris’ relationship with the Coastal Commission has been openly hostile for years.
On Wednesday, Commissioner Dennis Rodoni said he only voted to allow fireworks last year because Morris agreed he would try to transition the show away from fireworks this year.
“This has already been voted on, and it was crystal clear to the applicant that that was the final year of fireworks,” said Commissioner Caryl Hart.
Morris said he met with city officials and commission staff three times since last May to talk about the feasibility of holding a drone show for the July 3 event but none of the three companies he met with could satisfy the conditions needed.
To allow a drone show anywhere in the city, the drones could only move vertically, cannot have anyone underneath the flight path and must take off and land from the same place, said a fire department spokesperson.
Commission staff disagreed with Morris’ assertion that a drone show is not possible over Alamitos Bay, and commissioners said he was given ample time to make it happen.