Wildwoods Boardwalk 2017 Fireworks Notification Procedure
Overview: The Wildwoods Boardwalk SID, Management Corporation (WSID) has promoted the Friday Night and July 4th Fireworks in the Wildwoods for over 20 years. This process includes securing funding from GWTIDA, soliciting bids from qualified pyrotechnic vendors, coordination of the launch site, all required permitting and synchronizing the musical score on the Boardwalk sound system and local radio broadcasts.
In conjunction with the fireworks vendor and the Wildwood Fire Official, WSID makes the determination as to whether or not a display will take place on Friday Night or on the Sunday postponement date. Infrequently, the determination may also be made to launch the show earlier or later than 10:00 PM due to imminent weather events.
This Notification Procedure is intended to help our tourism partners, business affiliates and the general public understand the process we use to decide if a show will be launched or postponed.
Go/No-Go: Many issues impact the decision on whether or not to launch a Fireworks show. Rain, wind & fog are the main culprits that cause us to cancel, delay or speed up the launch of a show. In addition, there are safety and financial decisions that must be taken into account when making the Go/No-Go decision. Therefore, the following time checks are adhered to:
- 11:00 AM: We review multiple weather forecasting sites. These include computerized models from Weather.Com and Accu-Weather, as well as more localized predictions and Doppler radar. If there is agreement that there is a 60% or greater chance of rain during the fireworks set up or launch window, we postpone the show.
- 3:00 PM: Prior to the loading and launch process commencing, we again review applicable forecasts to determine if any significant changes have occurred since the 11:00 AM update. Assuming they have not, the go ahead is given to load the tubes. If the forecast has changed to a 60% or greater chance of rain during the loading or launch window, the show is postponed.
- Launch: From the time the show is loaded in the tubes, until the launch time, forecasts and Doppler radar are constantly checked to insure against any weather events that can have an impact on the Fireworks. In the event a significant weather event pops up prior to the launch time, we will either fire the show early, or in a rare instance hold off until the event has passed and then fire the show.
Notification: In the event of a change in the scheduled show, we email blast a notice to our tourism partners, post to social media, notify local media and commence frequent announcements on the Boardwalk PA system.