Baltimore City has decided to cancel the largest 4th of July fireworks show in the area for a second year in a row due to COVID-19 concerns. The Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts (BOPA) announced that the celebratory fireworks, which traditionally attract up to 300,000 people to Baltimore's Inner Harbor, will be postponed for another year in order to keep the city's population safe from the virus. The city is reassessing COVID regulations every two weeks rather than every month thanks to rapid changes and vaccination rates, but needed to plan far in advance to allocate resources and coordinate vendors for an event of this size.
City leaders have been working to update COVID restrictions on a near-daily basis, in keeping with CDC guidance, but typically the city's restrictions are a bit more stringent than those in the surrounding areas, as cases have been higher in the city than less-populated areas. Information about guidance can be found at the Visit Baltimore website. The sire is updated frequently with requirements and changes to guidance for visiting, upcoming events, and what to do in the area.
The city deemed the 4th of July event a possible "super spreader" event, and opted to cancel for this year, but is hoping strongly that with vaccination rates rising, the New Years Eve fireworks show will happen as usual. Baltimore city typically hosts two large fireworks events, 4th of July and New Years Eve, both of which are superior for drawing tourists and visitors to the Inner Harbor area.
Most years, the city's 4th of July celebrations include live music, family-fun activities, and a vibrant fireworks display with food and beverages available throughout the inner harbor area. People gather on Federal Hill, which overlooks the harbor, and along Locust Point, for stunning views of the water to enjoy the show.
Baltimoreans perhaps take the 4th of July events more personally than residents of many cities, considering that the Star Spangled Banner was written here, marking the "bombs bursting in air" right over the Inner Harbor itself. Key Highway was named after Francis Scott Key, and when the National Anthem is sung at baseball games at Camden Yards, there's a resounding "boom" shouted after the lyric to mark those bombs. No doubt the second year cancellation of the fireworks over the harbor comes as a great disappointment to the city's residents and the hundreds who visit each year to celebrate the nation's independence.
The 4th of July festivities are usually held as a culminating event to Baltimore City's Artscape, and open-air arts event featuring artists and vendors from all over the country. Artscape is Baltimore's largest annual outdoor arts festival, which brings more than 300,000 people to the area, including the Station North District each year. Event planners hope to return the festival in 2022 to celebrate its landmark 40th anniversary bigger and better with a great celebration, including the benchmark fireworks.
Because of virus concerns, the fireworks were canceled for Independence Day 2020, and again for New Years Eve. Neighboring areas of Frederick, MD and the Maryland capitol of Annapolis are planning to continue with plans to host fireworks displays this year without notable restrictions on the festivities as yet. Last summer, city residents expressed many concerns over private residents lighting fireworks at their homes, causing disruptions and posing a potential danger or fire hazard within the city, because fireworks vendors in Pennsylvania and Virginia were able to sell their products to private users since demand from municipalities was so low.
Hopes are that this year, with more suburban and rural communities are hosting fireworks, there will be lower supply to sell to private users and those concerns will be lessened.