Fourth of July fireworks display is canceled by city

Concerns over drought conditions, finances, virus put kibosh on event

Don’t expect any big booms in Santa Fe in celebration of the Fourth of July this year.

The city has canceled its annual community fireworks display due to both financial constraints and fire safety concerns, city spokeswoman Lilia Chacon said in an email Thursday.

A statewide ban on large gatherings due to public health risks from the COVID-19 pandemic also could have posed challenges to organizing such an event.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham issued an executive order earlier this week urging New Mexico cities and counties to ban the retail sale of fireworks due to drought. The request came as broader state and federal fire restrictions remain in place due to increasing drought conditions and high risks of wildfires. The state ban applies on all state-owned and private lands. The Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service and National Park Service also have bans.

The U.S. Drought Monitor shows about three-quarters of New Mexico ranging from abnormally dry to extreme drought.

Santa Fe County is experiencing dry to moderate drought conditions, rather than extreme drought, so officials do not plan to ban fireworks for personal use, county spokeswoman Carmelina Hart said.

The city of Santa Fe’s decision not to hold a community show could prompt more people to use private fireworks in less controlled home environments.

Wendy Mason, wildfire prevention and communications coordinator with the State Forestry Division, said she hopes that doesn’t happen. “We would prefer people to attend or view organized events with protocols in place rather than try to set off fireworks themselves,” due to safety con

cerns, she said.

Ray Sandoval, who works with the Kiwanis Club of Santa Fe to put on the city’s Fourth of July celebration each year, as well as the burning of Zozobra and the New Year’s Eve event on the Plaza, said he is disappointed about the cancellation but sees an opportunity to reevaluate how the community celebrates the holiday. “We’re seeing a rebirth of freedom in this country right now, and that calls for a different kind of celebrating,” he said.

Sandoval is now planning a widely broadcast, “crowdless” burning of Zozobra, the 50-foottall incarnation of Old Man Gloom, in September at Fort Marcy Ballpark because of concerns about the pandemic.

The fireworks show isn’t the only Fourth of July celebration Santa Feans will miss out on this year. The city’s beloved Pancakes on the Plaza also has been canceled. Terry Williams-Keffer, who has been coordinating the syrupy fundraiser for 22 years, said she is “kinda heartbroken” that what would have been the 46th annual Pancakes on the Plaza won’t happen.

It’s difficult to imagine an Independence Day in Santa Fe sans morning pancakes and fireworks at dusk, but “public safety is our priority right now,” Chacon said.