Sun Sentinel Broward Edition

Fireworks companies hurt as pandemic forces cancellati­ons

- By Julie Creswell The New York Times

Across the country, the coronaviru­s pandemic has brought to a halt a tradition of summer: Fourth of July fireworks.

As many as 80% of community fireworks displays in large cities and small rural towns were canceled this year over fear that they would create a social distancing nightmare.

For the 150 companies across the country that thrill spectators with their booming, colorful explosions in the skies, the two weeks around the July Fourth holiday make up about three-quarters of their revenue. The numerous cancellati­ons this year, they say, are taking a significan­t financial toll on their businesses, many of them family owned for generation­s.

With July Fourth falling on a weekend, giving communitie­s extra days to host events, “we were looking at a record year,” said James Souza, the fifth generation of his family to operate Pyro Spectacula­rs by Souza from California.

“But of the 400 shows we expected to do around the holiday, we’ll be lucky if we do 40,” he said, noting that he had been receiving daily calls with cancellati­ons or program changes from event planners.

Included in the 40 shows that Souza will produce this year are the Mount Rushmore show in South Dakota and, for the 36th consecutiv­e year, the Macy’s fireworks show in New York City.

The Macy’s show has been changed to five-minute displays in undisclose­d locations throughout the week that are designed to be watched from outside without leaving home.

The grand finale on July Fourth, also from an undisclose­d location, will be televised.

A few companies that specialize in large fireworks displays also sell Roman candles, spinners and sparklers for individual­s to use in their backyards, a business that is booming this year.

Some of the fireworks display companies have, over the past decade or so, branched out to broader entertainm­ent arenas, creating “oohs” and “aahs” at major and minor league baseball stadiums as well as complex pyrotechni­cs for rock concerts, music festivals, and indoor basketball and hockey games.

The vast majority of those sports games and entertainm­ent events were also canceled this year.

When they ultimately resume, they may initially do so without spectators, making fireworks unnecessar­y.

“I’ve had days where I’ve lost $150,000 of business from cancellati­ons,” said Roberto Sorgi, the fifth generation of the family that runs American Fireworks in Hudson, Ohio. “We’re going to lose 50 to 75% of our business from the Fourth of July, and there are no clear signs of when concerts or mass gatherings will be allowed again, so we may not have a third or fourth quarter this year. It is a very scary road ahead for all of us.”

Most of the fireworks companies received money through the federal Paycheck Protection Program and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program. But they said it wasn’t enough.

That’s because the fireworks industry has a ton of upfront expenses.

The companies start buying millions of dollars’ worth of fireworks nearly a year in advance and paid hefty insurance premiums this year to cover the planned events.

 ?? DA’SHAUNAE MARISA/THE NEW YORK TIMES ??
DA’SHAUNAE MARISA/THE NEW YORK TIMES

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