Oh please, it maims people every year, kills birds, terrorises animals, I’m all for an organised display but twats who set off dynamite at 3 in the morning can do one.
Pretty sure we have laws against people setting off fireworks at 3 in the morning already - it’s just they aren’t well policed.
I will agree with you about the Birds though, they have little choice in the matter and there definitely could be more done to possibly safeguard them.
There are places all over Europe that manage to successfully host and allow people to throw fireworks.
The parents teach their kids how to handle them properly, there’s age limits like here, the police crack down hard on people who don’t abide, - and it’s not even that the rules are really strict. Little ones kids can use on the pavement, big ones are thrown in the road, really big ones - do it away from people altogether.
And EVERYONE throws them, from grannys to toddlers.
Not even just for a night…some are a week long!
Wouldn’t change it for the world.
How come they can manage the responsibility and yet England can’t?
Where is this fabled golden land of responsible firework use you speak of? I know you’re not talking about Germany, where the streets transform into a warzone every New Year’s Eve. It is the most irresponsible and reckless thing I have ever experienced. Fireworks careen over the street at head height, bounce off buildings, smash through windows. They have special hospital tents set up for all the casualties and the fire service is stretched to its limits.
I’m reluctant to say too much for fear of the place filling up with English tourists on boozy trips getting burnt and just plain ruining it for everyone else. Tiktok and influencers kill anything and everything nice.
What I will say is they have fireworks during the day and in the evening for consecutive days by reknown pyrotechnic artists and very rarely are there accidents that makes the news cycle.
It’s also on a UNESCO list - so it’s pretty cool.
That sounds like you’re talking about one small place that’s not well known, which is fine and everything, but you said “places all over Europe manage to successfully allow people to throw fireworks”. That was just an exaggeration then?
I wouldn’t called France, Spain (numerous festivals), Germany, Malta small (well, maybe Malta).
I was talking about one specific festival as it’s one of the worlds largest and because I’ve been there quite a few times so know it better than the others but there are others which allow people to throw fireworks without too much reported incidents or complaints.
OK so you are talking Europe-wide then, right? You are saying that major cities throughout Europe allow people to throw fireworks in the street and they somehow do it responsibly and no one gets hurt?
Because I’m just trying to point out that that’s not actually right. I’m confident that every major urban area where there are events where the public freely throw fireworks in the street has a massive injury problem and property damage associated with it.
Germany is where I have most experience with this, having lived there for several years. They go absolutely mental with fireworks every new year. From about 6pm until 2am, in most major cities, fireworks are set off willy-nilly. People launch them from empty beer bottles, which not surprisingly often fall over. I’ve seen countless fireworks exploding in crowds, one time a firework skittered across the street and blew up right underneath a baby buggy. Needless to say, the baby was distraught. I’ve also seen someone run into the middle of a crossroads, put a large drum thing on the road and light it, it exploded with the most stupendous bang right as a car went past it. I was drinking outside one time when a firework went through an upstairs window down the street and set the apartment on fire. It is absolutely crazy and there is nothing responsible about it.
It’s the same deal in the Netherlands, although I’ve only experienced that first hand one time.
I don’t know if France or Spain tolerate people setting off fireworks in the street like they do in Germany and the Netherlands. I suspect it’s not tolerated in Spain, I don’t recall anyone letting fireworks off in the street the one time I was there for NYE.
I’m afraid I don’t believe it’s any different in any large cities where this happens. The UK isn’t a reckless outlier amongst a sea of responsible and yet pyromaniac European countries. Either the public do not routinely let off fireworks in the street - like in the UK for instance - or they do, and it’s absolute chaos and many people are injured and thousands of pounds of damage is caused.
Noise concerns? What about aircraft noise? I live in London SE3 under a flight path to Heathrow. The daily noise pollution can take place at nearly every three minutes at times and can start at six in the morning. Aircraft noise pollution causes serious physical, mental, and developmental harms, particularly for communities living under flight paths near airports. Chronic exposure to high aircraft noise stiffens and thickens heart muscles, making the heart less efficient at pumping. People living under flight paths face an increased risk of heart attacks, strokes, hypertension, and coronary heart disease. Loud, sudden plane sounds trigger the body’s fight or flight response, releasing stress hormones such as cortisol and raising blood pressure. Nighttime aircraft noise causes frequent micro-awakenings and restlessness, even if a person feels they slept through the night. Ongoing sleep deprivation weakens the immune system and increases risks for metabolic issues such as diabetes, obesity, and mental health struggles. Noise levels near major hubs frequently surpass World Health Organization safety guidelines, which recommend limiting daytime exposure to forty-five decibels and nighttime exposure to forty decibels.
Do they set off fireworks, tho’?
Did they build the airport after you moved in there?
No.
I feel that perhaps choosing to move near an airport might loosen the foundation of your complaint.
It does, if nothing else, make you look… A little silly.
I have lived here since 1975. A survey by the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) found that 34% of London residents reported that noise levels in their local area had increased over the preceding two years significantly higher than the 29% average across England and Wales.
34% of London residents reported noise levels increased
29% average across England and Wales
TBH that doesn’t seem like a lot higher the average, given that it’s London. Presumably you didn’t choose to live in London for the peace and quiet.
Anyway, maybe you could try launching fireworks into the aeroplanes’ flight path. If you cause a serious enough crash, you could get the airport shut down *and* fireworks banned.
Probably best to just have set dates. So pet owners and such can keep them at bay.
The problem of course are the people who couldn’t care less about others. Fireworks became a nuisance when people set them off weeks in advance of Nov5 and weeks later to suit their own selfishness, then hang on to purchased fireworks to use them later, for personal events, ends up being October November December and NYEeve is almost non stop for selfish twats disturbing others. Should be; Nov5 or nearest weekend. NYEve and nothing else. Then public displays only, no purchase without license.
Have you considered: things celebrated by cultures other than white British people? Diwali, for example, which is probably the reason for people setting fireworks off in advance of and following nov5, since it lasts 5-6 days and takes place in Oct/Nov.
That said, I don’t think people should be setting off (loud) backyard fireworks at all. It terrorizes animals, disrupts sleep, and endangers people.
Not particularly, I’d prefer to ban the bangs altogether. If you let every variation of celebration be an excuse for letting off the bangs and whistles there would always be yet another religious section/version that justifies continued use. But in a UK community suggesting UK traditional restrictions does not immediately jump to my mind to be internationally inclusive. I wouldn’t expect to celebrate Nov5 if I emigrated to China, but then I wouldn’t complain that their new year’s celebrations aren’t on jan1 because that would be foolish.
Being inclusive of other cultures isn’t about being internationally inclusive, its about being inclusive of the people living alongside us in our country :) but we agree that fireworks should be banned generally
Would love some more fireworks that are actually suited for small gardens. Catherine wheels can work but a lot seem to launch up so high its probably landing next door.
The cost generally puts me off bothering too for how little time they last too. Have wondered if you could add stuff to a fire to make different colours as a more cost effective option with a bonfire instead of fireworks. Or smoke.
no fun
Random fucking explosions at random fucking times of the night isn’t “fun” for any fucker except the individual self-centred, cockjuggling thundercunt that sets it off.
Yeah, mad fucking giggles mate, what fucking fun.
Twat.
Edit: As I point out below, I sort of do “fireworks” semi-professionally. The fucking hoops we have to jump through for insurance/liability/safety/noise/pollution are quite something.
Yet random Joe Fuckwad that doesn’t know his arse from his fucking elbow can buy and launch screaming starburst rockets with enough pop to rattle windows at a half mile.
Fuck all the way off.
mate, don’t be disingenuous, fireworks have a distinct noise pattern; while they are mechanically explosions calling them that instills the image of cannon fire, tank missiles, or pipe bombs, and yeah I wouldn’t want to be woken up by that either, but fireworks are fireworks.
then again you sound like the type of person to hate kids playing football in front of your building, cause “random shouting isn’t fun for anyone except individual self centred etc etc”. The world is bigger than you, if anything you dictating how others should have their harmless fun looks like being self centred to me, and that’s fine, we all push for policies that benefit us, but don’t take the moral high ground as if you’re being selfless when you’re just interested in getting less noise in your neighbourhood for yourself.
while they are mechanically explosions calling them that instills the image of cannon fire, tank missiles, or pipe bombs, and yeah I wouldn’t want to be woken up by that either, but fireworks are fireworks.
I have met people who have trauma from recently being around a front line in a war. Fireworks are hell for them, it can trigger full-blown panic attacks. So yes, it is actually quite similar.
That’s not even considering the air pollution, noise pollution, or the “smaller” issues like the harm done to pets, stray dogs/cats, birds, etc.
It’s definitely not “harmless fun”. I can agree that fireworks can be fun but they need to be done in responsible amounts and only in certain times when at least people can expect the noise and prepare for it.
I work with pyrotechnics. Mostly smaller stage stuff nowadays, but occasionally I get to play with bigger stuff.
It’s part of a performance group that get hired for a range of events in the UK.
I am fully versed in what exactly consumer grade fireworks entail, how they function and the consequences of misuse. I have the burn scars from personal fuckups to remind me of the wrong way to do something.
There is a time and a place, and most random farting fucking skittles have no business setting off airburst explosives in the middle of housing estates. They are blissfully unaware of the dangers, and in most cases don’t give a flying fuck as long as the consequences/problems end up being someone else’s. (For example, Where does all the debris from all the rockets end up? Who gives a fuck, right?)
That’s before we get to the malicious antics of the feral offspring of the worst areas’ utter scrotes, and the misery that brings to everyone else for months after fireworks go on sale.
