{"id":332446,"date":"2026-07-07T23:10:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T23:10:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/332446\/"},"modified":"2026-07-07T23:10:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T23:10:09","slug":"st-pete-marketing-materials-claimed-america-250-fireworks-would-double-in-scale-they-didnt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/332446\/","title":{"rendered":"St. Pete marketing materials claimed America 250 fireworks would ‘double in scale.’ They didn’t\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

St. Petersburg told residents this year\u2019s Independence Day celebration would \u201cdouble in scale and splendor<\/a>\u201d for America\u2019s 250th anniversary, but invoices obtained by Florida Politics from the city of St. Pete show spending only sightly higher than last year, with direct spending on the actual fireworks the same as in 2025.<\/p>\n

The additional cost went to the fee for use of the barge, from which pyrotechnic experts launch the fireworks.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On the city\u2019s America250 pages, officials said this year\u2019s fireworks would double in scale, while a city news release called the display \u201cbigger than ever<\/a>.\u201d While the cost for the overall show was higher this year than last, it was not \u201cdouble,\u201d and the amount spent on the fireworks themselves was unchanged.<\/p>\n

The city was billed the same $43,750 for the fireworks display fee for the America 250 event in 2026 as it was in 2025, while the overall invoice rose from nearly $71,000 to nearly $99,000. The difference came from barge-related and support costs, which rose from just over $27,000 in 2025 to $55,000 this year.\u00a0The total invoice for the America 250 fireworks display also matched the city\u2019s 2024 invoice, but more of this year\u2019s bill went directly to fireworks.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The city has used one company for its Fourth of July fireworks shows, Pyro Productions<\/a>, since 2022. The 2021 invoice came from a different vendor and listed only a single $35,000 fireworks display charge. The fee is not itemized.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Some residents have taken to social media since Saturday\u2019s fireworks show in downtown. Now, the 2026 spending may help explain sour sentiments shared by residents, even as others defended the city\u2019s celebration.<\/p>\n

Public Facebook posts and comments after the July 4 display reflect a visible wave of frustration with the city\u2019s Independence Day celebration, with complaints centering on the scale of the fireworks and the lack of a strong finale after hours of sitting in traffic, hunting for parking, and (in some cases) shelling out extra cash for paid premium viewing areas.<\/p>\n

Luis Bedoya, a local real estate executive, called the fireworks \u201ca real letdown\u201d and criticized the display after paying a premium for VIP area access and higher parking prices.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe city should be ashamed. They charged for \u2018VIP\u2019 areas that were literally public space, jacked up parking prices, and then barely spent anything on the actual fireworks show. To top it off, there was zero staff directing traffic or foot flow \u2014 took us 45 minutes just to get out of the parking lot,\u201d Bedoya wrote July 5 on Facebook<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor a 250th anniversary celebration that was supposed to be \u2018bigger and better,\u2019 this was a huge miss. Anyone else experience this tonight? Would love to see the city actually address this for next year.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Alasdair Wilson responded that she came from London \u201cto share the big 250,\u201d and was told this year\u2019s celebration would be \u201cthe biggest and best ever.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve seen bigger fireworks displays at weddings,\u201d she said, punctuating with a Union Flag emoji.<\/p>\n

Another post, from Shriner Kurt<\/a>, called the display an \u201cembarrassment\u201d and said the show lasted about 20 minutes, with \u201cone or two fireworks at a time.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the worst fireworks display put on by any city or organization I have seen in my entire life,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe show lasted 20 minutes. One or two fireworks at a time. The finale was almost non existent. I wouldn\u2019t call it a finale at all. It was a few extra fireworks over a 20 second period.\u201d<\/p>\n

Daniel Figueroa, a former Florida Politics reporter who moved out of state, defended the budget show, but mostly for fiduciary reasons.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love me some fireworks. But I also love me some public money going to public good that benefits the people, not entertains for a few minutes,\u201d Figueroa said. \u201cPeople can\u2019t afford groceries so it\u2019s no surprise a city can\u2019t afford, or isn\u2019t willing, to spend lavishly on something so trivial as fireworks. We can still be patriotic without blowing things up. Actually, maybe that should be the norm.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another prominent resident, Gold & Diamond Source President and Chief Operating Offiver Julie Johnson Weintraub<\/a>, posted that she found the display \u201csuper disappointing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYikes! Other countries did more!!\u201d Weintraub wrote.<\/p>\n

The public complaints did not come only from people who said they watched from the St. Pete Pier. Some commenters pointed to better experiences outside the city. Several of the comments were overtly political, tying disappointment to Mayor Ken Welch<\/a> and city leadership.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Social media posts are not a scientific measure of public opinion, and not every reaction was negative. But the complaints reflect high expectations that, to many, were not met, and that\u2019s at least partially supported by the receipts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"St. Petersburg told residents this year\u2019s Independence Day celebration would \u201cdouble in scale and splendor\u201d for America\u2019s 250th…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":332447,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[52302,14901,48309,52652,120899,2346,596,137139,202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-332446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-america-250","tag-america250","tag-fireworks","tag-independence-day","tag-july-4","tag-ken-welch","tag-pinellas-county","tag-shriner-kurt","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=332446"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332446\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/332447"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=332446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=332446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=332446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}