As much as this country wants to flip the switch on the Fourth of July – as indicated by President Joe Biden to be the start of a return to normal life – pandemic effects continue to be a real pain.
Now, the effects are plaguing a primary American need: fireworks.
There’s a shortage, and companies including the country’s biggest retail fireworks business, Phantom Fireworks, are sending out warning flares advising early fireworks purchases.
“Like many other industries, the fireworks industry has also experienced delays due to shipment challenges facing the global market,” Alan L. Zoldan, executive vice president at Phantom, said in a statement.
Most fireworks in the U.S. are made in China. The shipping is a challenge.
“It’s not really a manufacturing issue, because we deal with about 15 factories in China and they have it produced they just can’t get it shipped out, so it’s more of a transportation issue this year,” Dan Raderschadt, owner of Lew’s Fireworks, said in a Dakota News Now story published on msn.com.
OK, great. So, just buy early? Sure, if you find access to fireworks.
“Right now, I just heard as of a few days ago there is still probably 1,000 different containers, that are floating in the West Coast, that are waiting to get unloaded that have fireworks on them,” Raderschadt said.
Old-fashioned American want-to, though, can’t be easily discouraged.
Biden will host an Independence Day gathering for first responders, essential workers and military members — with fireworks, according to the Associated Press.
And the annual Macy’s Fourth of July Fireworks is returning to New York City on the East River.
And Walt Disney World hosts a fireworks display starting July 1, after 15 months of darkness, according to Disney Parks Blog.
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