There will be New Year’s Eve fireworks in South Beach, but city wants to avoid crowds

Miami Beach is funding a New Year’s Eve fireworks display on the sands of South Beach, but city officials request that any visitors follow COVID-19 rules mandating social distancing and mask use.

The city has kept the 10 p.m. event under wraps to avoid attracting crowds, but workers began setting up the fireworks zone near Eighth Street beach on Wednesday, said Marcia Monserrat, chief of staff for City Manager Raul Aguila.

Aguila said the city intended to keep the event a “low-key affair in light of the curfew and COVID.” There is a 1 a.m. curfew in effect for New Year’s Eve across MiamiDade County, which will revert to a midnight curfew the following day.

The city of Miami canceled its New Year’s fireworks display this year, and The Big Orange countdown at the InterContinental Miami hotel won’t be held.

Miami Beach is paying $25,000 in resort tax funds to hold the fireworks show. Longtime city contractor Zambelli Fireworks will set up the fireworks, which will launch from the beach and last about 20 minutes, Monserrat said.

“Part of the reason that we’ve been so cautious about talking about it is we want people socially distanced, we want to make sure we don’t have any crowds on the beach,” she said.

The city held a virtual fireworks display for the Fourth of July.

The New Year’s Eve event was originally scheduled for midnight, but Miami Beach Police advised the city to do it earlier, said Commissioner Michael Góngora.

“The manager made a decision today to go back to the 10 p.m. slot,” he said. “We are, of course, encouraging everyone to engage in social distancing [and] to wear your masks. That’s still the law.”

In previous years, the city has split the cost of hosting the fireworks display with the Ocean Drive Association, which represents many of the businesses along the oceanfront street. But the financial impacts of the coronavirus pandemic made private funding more difficult to obtain, so the city is covering the full cost of the event.

In a statement, Ocean Drive Association Executive Director Ceci Velasco said her group was “unable to host this year” due to COVID but felt “very grateful that the city is providing fireworks to celebrate the incoming new year.”