Oviedo fireworks will continue, but with unorthodox timing

Residents will have to wait a few days to see fireworks light up the sky in Oviedo for Independence Day in 2024.

The city’s annual Fireworks Show at the Oviedo Mall is set to take place on July 6 — a Saturday — rather than on July 4 itself, which falls on a Thursday.

This has some residents not feeling the spirit of the day.

“[I] feel like nobody really wants to go to fireworks on the 6th with no festival,” Oviedo resident Alan Ott said at the Dec. 4 City Council meeting. “I think there’s lots of other places to see fireworks in the Central Florida area, and, I mean, if we’re not able to do it on or about the 4th, we should probably just do it next time.”

Due to scheduling conflicts with the fireworks vendor, Pyro Shows, Inc., Oviedo City Council voted 3-1 — councilmember Keith Britton was absent — during its Dec. 4 meeting to hold the event on July 6 instead of the also-available June 29. The 2023 version of the event took place on July 1. 

The show will cost the city about $46,000, including $38,000 for the fireworks and the rest for barricade and bathroom rentals. It will feature about 4,500 total firework devices.

This will be the second straight year when the event, which sees thousands of residents attend, will only include the fireworks show, rather than a festival to go along with them. The festival, which included live entertainment, rides, vendors and a kids zone, was removed due to budgetary concerns, as costs for it were about $70,000, according to Oviedo Recreation and Parks Director Paul Belden. 

The Parks Department spends about $250,000 annually on operating costs of city events.

“When we pulled the festival back, which I think was a sensible business decision … it kind of took away what I think of as this small-town and celebratory aspect to it,” said Oviedo Mayor Megan Sladek, who voted against the resolution. 

To bring a community feel, Sladek mentioned doing an event, such as a picnic at Oviedo on the Park or “the world’s biggest ice cream party”.

“We could do some kind of cool, every person who has a band, let’s bring them out and we’ll have just a little jam fest at a place that has grass,” she said. “I think there’s a lot of opportunities to do it closer to Independence Day this year and still make it a more meaningful community event.”

Pyro Shows, which was used for Oviedo’s show in 2023 and provides service to other cities in the area, was chosen following problems with the previous vendor’s shows, including accidentally starting a show with the grand finale, shortened firework duration and having unused fireworks, Belden said. Pyro Shows also provided the fireworks for the Nov. 30 Holiday Tree lighting.

Pyrotechnics can cause environmental issues

The city is looking at possible alternatives to pyrotechnic fireworks for future events, though the 2024 version will still utilize the traditional fireworks. Costs for laser or drone shows may be slightly more expensive, but the benefits of them could be a deciding factor.

While the city has not done any environmental assessments pertaining to the pyrotechnic fireworks, there are issues that arise from them for the community.

“We do see a large impact from fireworks on air quality,” said Kelly Stevens, a University of Central Florida assistant professor at the School of Public Administration, whose work focuses on climate change policies and air pollution. “It is definitely something that we pick up on and we see in an extreme manner during large firework event activities.

“I would recommend looking at alternatives, personally,” she said.

Potential issues from them include poor visibility, especially for drivers, possible impacts to lung function, and the potential for fires, which can lead to more extreme air problems.

While the city’s event, which takes place at the Oviedo Mall, provides enough space away from residential spaces for now, as more developments are being built in the vicinity, neighborhood fireworks in dense areas can exacerbate the issues.

“One of the bigger problems is maybe not the public displays of fireworks, but the residential ones,” Stevens said. “Where you have fireworks going off in very close proximity to residents is where you see a really direct impact in our neighborhoods, where people are living and breathing the air.

“Where we see residents shooting off fireworks everywhere, I think that contributes to really impacting the air quality where people are living,” she said. 

Mall location could be short-lived

Among the reasons for having the event at the Oviedo Mall include the ample space and a proper landing zone for the firework debris, which other locations, such as Oviedo on the Park, do not have, Belden said. 

But with the continued growth on the mall property, a new venue may be needed in the future.

“We have a limited number of years that we could possibly do it because the mall is being redeveloped, so we might be on borrowed time there,” Council member Natalie Teuchert said. “So anytime we can have an event like that, I think it is well worth our time to do so.”

The debris from the fireworks has residents concerned, as well. 

“Every time I look out at those fireworks, there are too many of them in too many cities, too many neighborhoods,” Oviedo resident Selim Alparslan said at the Council meeting. “I think about, personally, the trash that is landing on the planet. And so I think that there are many places to see them.”