I think there were much less fireworks this year in my city than last year, none in my neighborhood and all the fireworks I saw in the distance all ended 2 minutes after midnight.

23 comments

  1. An anti-fireworks sentiment exists, I’ve heard it from many people. But there is not really an active movement.

  3. They’re illegal for regular people to have in Ireland but there’s still plenty of them around for month of October and they do annoy a lot of people and scare animals. People have generally gotten them in Northern Ireland or ones that were imported illegally from Britain. Brexit supposedly upset the illegal firework supply chain this year and I did notice less of them.

    Edit: They’re popular in October specifically because they’re associated with Halloween and bonfires on Halloween night but some areas sound like a war zone for weeks.

  4. Yes there are often people complaining on social media that they upset their pets, particularly around November 5th when we celebrate bonfire night, however bonfire is a popular tradition (particularly in Sussex, where I’m from) so I don’t see them making much headway.

  5. Sales of fireworks were prohibited for the last two years to reduce the chance of large public gatherings on New Years for infection reasons so there simply weren’t that many, and there’s a steady baseline of some people making complaints about noise or stressed pets before New Years every year, but they’re a vocal minority.

  6. In my social circle I’d say many (if not most) people consider fireworks stupid and needless (myself included). Unfortunatelly, that’s far from the prevailing opinion in Czechia, so the New Year’s Eve was once again a f***ing apocalypse. Personally, I’d be all for a complete ban of selling any pyrotechnics to the public (some Czech organizations have already proposed that). People who enjoy them could still have like one official fireworks show in larger cities, significantly reducing the number of distressed or killed animals, not to mention the pollution…

  7. Fireworks are illegal but everyone still buys them in the North, there are even firework shops along the border.

  8. Every year the sentiment grows. There is still a lot of people who buy fireworks but this year a lot of cities donated money for fireworks to animal shelters.

  9. Yes, it’s very strong and most towns haven’t had organised fireworks on new years for probably almost a decade if not more. There’s always billboards around new years. [These ones](https://www.zurnal24.si/media/img/e4/43/1fec317a7321befd6fc0.jpeg) are from this year, [this](https://www.radioekspres.si/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/PETARDE3.jpg), [this](https://www.radioekspres.si/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/PETARDE2.jpg) and [this](https://tam-tam.si/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/naslovna-splet-1.jpg) from few years ago. And there’s lots of appeals in different medias. Also appeals from environmentalists about pollution. We almost always have tons of fog on new years and that just traps all the chemicals. And a lot of times it’s pretty pointless to even have fireworks because you can’t even see them due to fog. Ljubljana was supposed to have some sort of ‘ecological’ fireworks this year but they didn’t end up using them because of fog.

  10. Not particularly, apart from some dog owners on facebook. There were barely any this new years, but thats mostly because the usual village firework display was cancelled because of covid. On bonfire night the village display went ahead so it was normal.

  11. Illegal in most places I think. I heard maybe 5 bangs within a minute of midnight.

    I personally don’t care too much but I know plenty do. I did make sure to have my cat inside though(she normally always is at night) because cat outside + loud bangs = ?

  13. A lot actually. Mostly from dog owners (understandably) , as well as from people who hate any type of fun.

    I quite like fireworks so I’m in a dilemma because I don’t know how to make it acceptable for dogs as well.

    As I said I sympathise with dogs and dog owners. Dogs really hate loud noises. I spent this New Year celebration with 2 dogs. And some humans but that doesn’t matter 🙂 . One was hiding under a table and other was happily running around. It makes me think there is some way.

  14. Yeah, there’s some. Grumpy old folks and Green party supporters tend to be the most vocal about these things. The arguments are usually about pets and the environment. A little about safety issues and eye injuries too.

    Many more powerful fireworks and firecrackers have been banned. It’s a shame really. There are bigger things to worry about.

  15. Varies, most (except for pet owners) tend to be in favour of colourful fireworks, but the opposition against those small things that don’t really do anything but a “bang” has got some steam.

  16. In austria all the big grocery chains stopped selling fireworks this year, so it actually feels like there is a huge anti movement, but on the other hand the actual people dont seem to care at all. Its more an environmentalist thing.

  17. Not really apart from some dog owners on social media, as has been mentioned. They’re still extremely popular.

    One thing I’m glad about is that it’s a lot more difficult for children to get them. When I was younger, you could buy them in newsagents, and the same ones that would sell children cigarettes also sold them fireworks.

    You used to get children throwing them at each other on the way to school, or even putting lit fireworks in each others’ bags and coats. I remember seeing a few gory public information films. I used to dread the walk to school after October half term until the 5th of November. Firstly it’s school, secondly it’s dark and cold, and thirdly I’m scared of explosives. Had to dodge them a few times.

    The teachers weren’t bothered about it unless they did it on school property. Fun times.

  18. After the last elections, the cities that opposition won has banned fireworks in their municipalities due to scarring house animals. Not just dogs but cats or birds has disturb in new year’s celebration. Now, it is mostly light shows on buildings or drone work etc.

  19. I think I saw the most fireworks this year compared to any other year, although we went to a vacation park in Wallonia to celebrate New Year’s this year (versus staying at home). It went on for a solid 30 minutes.

    As others have mentioned, the primary argument against fireworks seems to be “muh puppers”, rather than the fact that fireworks are inherently dangerous and can cause injury or fire.

    I would be in favor of banning these “bombs” that just make a lot of noise but I would like the decorative fireworks to stay.

  20. [The Dutch are crazy about their fireworks](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGJseovT8ug), I’ve actually never seen anything similar anywhere I’ve lived. There’s some sentiment against them, [even a recent motion to ban them altogether throughout the year](https://www.groenlinks.nl/nieuws/vanaf-volgend-jaar-permanent-vuurwerkverbod), but I don’t think they’ll have big support. Due to corona, firing even small fireworks was actually banned temporarily, but where I live, there was actually even more of them.

  21. I wouldn’t say there’s movement, but it is discussed on social media during the holidays, as some people are really annoyed with all the fireworks.

  23. Well, we are giving up so many bad habits these days (growing environmentalism, vegan movements, animal rights movements, etc.) Why not give up another stupid tradition?
    That’s at least my POV.
    Fireworks litter the environment, cause unhealthy stress in about every animal near and far, and are ridiculously expensive on top.
    Think about it 🙂

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