What happened to the fireworks show?
July 10, 2026
On Monday, the City of Rehoboth Beach issued the following statement “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.
We are working with Zambelli Fireworks to get clarification on what happened, including the cause of the heavy smoke and the timing of the finale.
We’ll share more information with the public as soon as we have it. We appreciate your patience and again apologize for the experience.”
As promised, we have worked with Zambelli to get answers.
After the contract was approved by the City, in a site inspection that took place in April, the fire marshal required the use of smaller fireworks due to the reduced fallout zone caused by beach erosion. The product Zambelli used, different from previous years, is known as multi-shot devices, or “cakes.” These do not reach the same heights as traditional shells. Cakes typically break around 150 feet, compared to traditional shells that reach 450 feet or more. This is why the fireworks did not appear as high in the sky as expected.
Additionally, the lower elevation, the concentrated number of smaller shots, and high humidity contributed to the unusually heavy smoke plume.
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.
