City of Rehoboth Beach Answers “What Happened to the Fireworks Show?”

Smokey Fireworks Display in Rehoboth Beach

For many who were downwind from last Sunday’s fireworks display in Rehoboth Beach it was a great show. However for others it was less than spectacular and very smokey. The City has been working with Zambelli Fireworks to find out just what happened. On Friday city officials learned that after the contract with Zambelli was approved the fire marshal following a site inspection required the use of smaller fireworks due to the reduced fallout zone caused by beach erosion.

The product that Zambelli used was different from previous years – multi-shot devices or cakes – which do not go as high as traditional shells. The lower elevation, the concentrated number of smaller shots, and high humidity contributed to the unusually heavy smoke plume. And an equipment malfunction hampered the finale from firing as intended.

Additional information from the City of Rehoboth Beach: 

As promised, we have worked with Zambelli to get answers.

Unfortunately, potential impacts of the changes were not communicated to the City beforehand, preventing us from planning accordingly.

Regarding the finale, there were equipment issues that caused some devices not to fire as scheduled. The crew manually lit them after the show had technically ended, as many close by witnessed, which created time gaps and made the finale seem weak.

The equipment malfunction prevented the enhanced finale from firing as intended, and the change in product contributed to a less-than-ideal viewing experience. Incidents like this are extremely rare. For more than 20 years, Zambelli Fireworks has delivered safe, dependable, and stunning shows for our community, a track record we sincerely value.

We will be working closely with Zambelli in the coming weeks to determine next steps and possible changes moving forward.

Many people have also asked why the City no longer uses a barge for the fireworks display. The last barge show occurred in 2005, and the display was moved to the beach in 2006 following the beach replenishment project, where it has been held ever since. Due to recent beach erosion, continuing to hold the display on the beach may be increasingly difficult, and the barge option will be explored for next year.

And because the most frequently asked question continues to be “Why not on July 4th?” we want to clarify again:

Rehoboth Beach has not held fireworks on the Fourth of July since 2014. The City requires additional assistance from neighboring towns, the county, the state, and the U.S. Coast Guard for traffic and crowd control to ensure a safe experience. On July 4th, these agencies are already fully committed to other events, and we cannot request that they divert resources to us. We also want to avoid overlapping shows with nearby communities like Dewey and Lewes, as well as the severe traffic issues that would arise from thousands of people leaving multiple shows at the same time.

We hope people will view this as an extended holiday, and an opportunity for even more celebration of America’s birthday.

Again, please accept our apologies for the disappointment caused by this year’s show. We look forward to seeing you all back in town on July? (stay tuned, we’ll announce that soon!) in 2027