This year's supply-chain issues, as well as labor shortages, will affect some local July 4 celebrations, most notably those in Ocean City and in College Park.
The town of Ocean City announced last week that it would move its July 4 events to an "intimate" July 3 fireworks display, and other festivities on both July 3 and July 5 instead.
The town said in a press release: "Ocean City officials received surprising news when they learned the two Independence Day firework shows scheduled for July 4th would not go on as planned. The firework company contracted to provide fireworks for both holiday celebrations told officials that labor shortages resulted in having inadequate staff to host the events as expected."
City Manager Terry McGean said in a statement:
You know what they say when things don’t go as planned. You make a new plan, which is exactly what we’ve done... We faced a bit of a twist this year, but our staff was determined to put on Independence Day celebrations our residents and visitors could enjoy. Although we would have loved to host our traditional celebrations on July 4th, I think the spirit of Independence Day will have the same great impact no matter what day we celebrate.
Supply-chain issues affecting fireworks have been reported nationwide.
The city of College Park also posted on Facebook:
