Big Bang on the Bay set to light up Long Beach BIG BANG ON THE BAY

Thousands of people are expected to once again crowd the shoreline of Long Beach on July 3 as the night sky is bejeweled with an array of bright colors for an early Independence Day celebration.

The Big Bang on the Bay will return on Independence Day eve and, as always, will boast plenty of food, music, activities — and, of course, fireworks over Alamitos Bay. Despite some fears in the community that recent controversy over whether fireworks shot off over the water hurts the environment, this year's show, according to its organizer, will be the “most extraordinary one yet.”

When: 5:30 p.m. July 3; fireworks start at nine.

Where: Boathouse on the Bay, 190 N. Marina Drive.

Cost: Block party, $75for adults and $30 for kids under 10; VIP tables also available. Boathouse on the Bay dining, $120 to $180.

Information: boathouseonthebay.com/big-bang .

John Morris, owner of the Boathouse on the Bay restaurant, founded the event in 2011, and it has become a popular community spectacle and successful fundraiser for nonprofits in the area.

Over the past two years, though, the future of the fireworks had been somewhat in doubt.

The advocacy group Coastal Environmental Rights Foundation filed a lawsuit against Morris in 2021, accusing Big Bang on the Bay of violating the Clean Water Act. The suit sought to ban the Long Beach event in the future.

But in April, a judge ruled CERF hadn't sufficiently proven the event had continuous and ongoing violations or that any violations that did occur were likely to repeat.

The judge dismissed the case without prejudice, meaning CERF could refile the case.

Despite the case being thrown out, Livia Borak Beaudin, an attorney who represented CERF in the case, said in an emailed statement at the time that there was still a win in all of that for the advocacy group.

“I think it's important to note the court said there was a discharge in violation of the Clean Water Act,” she said in an emailed statement. “The L.A. Water Board is issuing a Clean Water Act permit this summer and Defendants have said they would enroll when the permit is approved. Given that we sued Defendants for discharging without a permit, we think that's a win.”

That new water board permitting process, though, has led to at least one company that puts on fireworks shows over the water to pull out of such events. The result is that one of the area's other large coastal Fourth of July fireworks shows — the King Harbor event in

Redondo Beach — has been canceled.

But for Morris, the lawsuit's dismissal was evidence that he operates Big Bang on the Bay in the right way.

“I feel really vindicated with everything because, since day one, we've done everything we could to make sure we don't pollute,” Morris said Friday. “I think we've done a great job over the years making sure that never happens, and in the trial, we proved that it never happens.”

Morris also said he felt that those who would have been most hurt by the loss of the event would be the community.

“I think it's going to be a great show, especially with everything we went through this year to get the fireworks,” he said. “This is truly, truly a community fireworks show.”

The fireworks will go off at 9 p.m. on July 3, but the party will begin hours earlier — at least for those who buy tickets for the Boathouse on the Bay block party rather than watching the show from afar.

The restaurant will open at 5:30 p.m., and the adjacent street party will kick off at the same time. The block party will feature a barbecue dinner catered by Naples Rib Co., air demonstrations that will include the Tiger Squadron, which is based in Torrance and flies Korean War-era planes in a “Freedom Break” formation, and a DJ playing music people can dance to.