For Third Straight Year, No Fourth Of July Fireworks In Ocean City

OCEAN CITY — Fourth of July fireworks in Ocean City, a staple of the summer season for decades, will not happen again this year as a labor shortage for the vendor has postponed the annual event, resort officials announced on Tuesday.

In 2020, the annual Fourth of July fireworks show was postponed during the height of the pandemic over concerns about the large crowds in a small area the event would draw. In 2021, with COVID waning, Fourth of July fireworks downtown and at Northside Park were set to return, but as the vendor’s crew were off-loading the pyrotechnics from a box truck on the beach at Dorchester Street, one of the explosives detonated unintentionally, causing a chain reaction that set off other fireworks at the scene.

The result was a series of explosions that sent a plume of smoke into the sky that could be seen from miles away. Out of an abundance of caution, the town’s Fourth of July fireworks shows downtown and at Northside Park were cancelled. On Tuesday, resort officials announced the annual Fourth of July fireworks show was cancelled again this year, this time because a labor shortage with the vendor would not make it possible.

Ocean City officials received surprising news on Tuesday when they learned the two fireworks shows scheduled for downtown and at Northside Park would not go on as planned. The fireworks vendor contracted to provide the two shows for both holiday celebrations told resort officials that labor shortages resulted in having inadequate staff to host the events as planned.

Town officials immediately began contacting additional vendors in the hope of finding a new supplier for both of the cancelled shows. For the record, the town of Berlin’s Fourth of July fireworks show is still on as planned, although it is believed Berlin has a different vendor. City Manager Terry McGean said Ocean City was quickly pivoting in a different direction to provide entertainment on the mid-summer milestone.

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