As the U.S. approaches its 250th birthday, many communities in Nebraska are looking to do bigger fireworks shows to celebrate.
But some of them are struggling to raise enough money, and those that do have the money are sometimes having trouble finding fireworks companies with the time and staff necessary to do those larger shows.
One community that lucked out was North Platte.
David Thielen, secretary-treasurer of the North Platte Optimists Club, said the community doubled the size of its fireworks show and has had no issues. It worked with a company out of Colorado.
In Grand Island, the fireworks committee also has plans for a bigger event this year.
“Fireworks are such an iconic way to celebrate the Fourth of July, and with this year being so special, we’re launching from Stuhr Museum,” Josh Smidt, a member of the Grand Island fireworks committee, said in a press release last month.“It’s the perfect place to celebrate our history.”
The Grand Island Community Firework committee is a grassroots committee. America250 will be the fourth year it will host a fireworks show. Previously in Grand Island, businesses hosted firework displays before ultimately deciding not to continue the tradition.
Last fall, the committee increased its fundraising goal from $40,000 to $60,000 to pay for the special anniversary fireworks show. As of April, it was at 75% of its goal. Fundraising efforts include letters, one-on-one visits and the Go Big Give event, which offered up to $2,500 to match public donations.
If the committee is unable to raise enough funds by Thursday, it will have to dip into its reserve, which will cut into next year's budget, in order to secure the crews for Grand Island’s America's 250th fireworks show.
“It's just a fail safe in case we can't meet our goal, but we don't want to tap into it,” said Dana Jelienk, secretary of the Grand Island community fireworks committee.
Jelinek says she confirmed two years ago in order to plan for this year's fireworks display.
Ted Kallhoff, regional vice president of sales for J&M Displays, which is doing the Grand Island show, said some customers, like Grand Island, are doubling and tripling their budgets for the big event. J&M Displays has been prepping for the last two to three years for this July 4.
For Nebraska alone, he ordered four more shipments of fireworks this year than last year. These shipments are 40 feet by 8 feet containers, which is about the length of a school bus. Kallhoff says tariffs increased pricing about 12% to 15%, which was passed on to consumers.
But just boosting budgets doesn’t ensure a bigger show – or a show at all.
The biggest issue for J&M Displays isn’t the cost of fireworks or quantity of fireworks, but crew availability for the Fourth of July. Due to increased demand for shows on the fourth, Kalloff started recruiting three years in advance for this year’s shows. It takes about four to five years for J&M Displays to properly train someone to lead a show.
There also has been an increase in the number of licensed fireworks display operations, with 251 new ones added since 2023, according to the Nebraska State Fire Marshal, although it’s not clear if the increase in licenses is related to the America250 celebrations.
J&M Displays was able to hire an additional 20 to 25 crew members. But despite that, the company still had to turn down some fireworks shows on or before the Fourth of July.
“We just can't hire enough people to do every community on the third or the fourth,” said Kallhoff.
The company will do shows on the two weekends before and after the fourth of July to replace shows it can’t do on the actual holiday.