The annual Roy Days festival might be without fireworks this summer.
Roy City Council directed the city to pause planning the fireworks show to cap this year’s Roy Days because of financial constraints, wildfire danger, and public safety concerns at Tuesday night’s council meeting. The decision will only be final once the council votes on a budget on June 16.
"I’m fully understanding of it,” said Tony Kent, a Roy resident. “We have a 55 percent tax increase proposal going on right now, we're also in the midst of one of the worst droughts we’ve ever seen, this is one of those things, cuts have to be made."
His family has made many memories spending time at Roy Days and watching the fireworks. "Even though we love fireworks, it’s probably not the year for it,” Kent said.
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Council members discussed that not having the fireworks show could save about $33,000 dollars for the city, which is about 1 percent of the shortfall. They hope small drops help fill the bucket.
Council member Jason Sphar announced in a Facebook post that the council "made the difficult decision" Tuesday. Sphar said they chose to cancel the fireworks because of concerns with the drought, city budget, and safety — saying the show attracts "gang-related activity from neighboring cities."
Council member Janel Hulbert said she is hopeful they can still make the fireworks show happen. "It’s such a cherished tradition in Roy, and I feel like it’s something that really brings our community together, so I would rather see us try to find more sponsors and things like that,” she said.
Now, canceling the fireworks is not final yet. The council needs to vote first, but for now, the city is not planning on the fireworks. “If citizens have strong feelings one way or the other, let us know,” Hulbert said.
Kent said he hopes they do see a paint party in the sky again soon. "Hopefully it’s not a long term decision, hopefully it will come back in years that we do have a better financial situation in Roy, but I’m very thankful that we did make that cut,” he said.
Sphar added that the fireworks were moved to the golf course a few years ago after two firework-related accidents that caused injuries in 2014 and 2019.
Sphar also said they have considered a drone light show instead of fireworks, but it would cost more than fireworks and could be difficult because of the city's close proximity to the Ogden-Hinckley Airport.
But it's not just the fireworks; Sphar said some other events may be canceled. The "painting of the light poles" is "effectively canceled," Sphar wrote. The events on Friday, July 31 may also be canceled, although Sphar said "a few council members are working hard to save the annual Salmon Bake event."
