The City of Rehoboth Beach issued a public statement Monday acknowledging the problems with its recent fireworks display and apologizing to residents and visitors who were let down by the show.
“The City of Rehoboth Beach is aware of the issues with last night’s fireworks show and understands the disappointment many people felt. This was planned as a larger display to celebrate our country’s 250th birthday, and that’s what we promised. While some viewers saw a spectacular show, we know that wasn’t the case for everyone,” the city said in its initial statement.
Following that apology, the city worked with its fireworks contractor, Zambelli Fireworks, to get to the bottom of what went wrong — and has now shared those findings with the public.
The problems started with a site inspection back in April. At that time, the fire marshal determined that smaller fireworks had to be used because beach erosion had reduced the safe fallout zone at the launch site. Zambelli switched to what are known as multi-shot devices, or “cakes” — a different product than what had been used in previous years. Unlike traditional shells, which can climb to 450 feet or higher, these cake-style devices typically only reach around 150 feet. That is why so many people noticed the fireworks appeared much lower in the sky than usual.
The lower altitude of the bursts, combined with a large number of smaller shots firing in a concentrated area and high humidity in the air, created an unusually thick smoke cloud that blocked the view for many spectators.
The city noted that Zambelli did not communicate to officials ahead of time how these product changes might affect the viewing experience, which left the city unable to plan for or warn the public about the differences.
As for the finale, equipment malfunctions caused several devices to fail to fire on schedule. Crew members manually ignited those devices after the show had technically concluded — something witnesses nearby could see happening — resulting in noticeable gaps in timing and a finale that felt anticlimactic rather than celebratory.
Despite this year’s problems, the city emphasized that Zambelli Fireworks has provided safe, reliable, and impressive shows for the community for more than 20 years — a record the city says it genuinely values. The two parties will be working together in the coming weeks to figure out what adjustments should be made.
Many residents have also been asking why the city stopped launching fireworks from a barge. The last barge-based show took place in 2005. In 2006, following a beach replenishment project, the display was moved to the beach, where it has remained ever since. However, with ongoing beach erosion making that location increasingly challenging, the city says it will look into returning to a barge setup for next year’s show.
Another common question the city addressed: why doesn’t Rehoboth Beach hold its fireworks on the actual Fourth of July? The city explained that it has not held a July 4th fireworks show since 2014. Pulling off a safe event requires help from neighboring towns, the county, the state, and the U.S. Coast Guard for traffic and crowd management. On July 4th, all of those agencies are already committed to other events and cannot redirect their resources. The city also wants to avoid scheduling conflicts with nearby communities like Dewey and Lewes, and to prevent the massive traffic backups that would result from thousands of people leaving multiple shows at the same time.
The city encouraged residents to think of the fireworks as part of an extended holiday celebration rather than a single-night event.
Officials closed with another apology and said they look forward to seeing everyone back for the 2027 show — with the exact date still to be announced.
