Why does Manchester get a fireworks display but Liverpool doesn’t?

Liverpool City Council issued an update on the future of council-led fireworks displays

Liverpool City Council has issued the ECHO with an update regarding the possibility of fireworks for this year’s Bonfire Night celebrations and beyond. Liverpool City Council said back in 2022 they had decided a longer term activity aimed at families would be more cost effective than one night of colourful display.

In its place is the River of Light events, stretched over the city centre. River of Light was first introduced in 2016 as a fireworks display but it has developed into an art trail in the years since. The last River of Light event to include fireworks was in 2019.

On September 15, Manchester council confirmed firework celebrations will return to Manchester parks on Saturday, November 7 this year, two days after Bonfire Night.

This marked the return of the city’s major fireworks events after they were paused in 2019 following the Covid-19 pandemic when funding challenges spurred a change of direction.

Similar to Liverpool, Manchester Council chose to invest in a range of community focused events across the city’s parks through the autumn season – rather than the major one-off fireworks events.

Council bosses stressed there won’t be bonfires at the celebrations but there will be big free family-friendly fireworks at Wythenshawe Park, Heaton Park and Platt Fields Park in Fallowfield. They say they hope the celebrations will “bring communities together.”

That will be followed at 8pm with the main fireworks displays at all three parks – which organisers say will also have accessibility and inclusivity at the heart of the celebrations.

Each of the three parks will also host lantern making workshops in the weeks leading up to the events, with family-friendly lantern parades taking place ahead of the 8pm firework shows. Additional entertainment will be announced for each park in the coming weeks.

With what is being billed as additional council investment, the fireworks events on November 7 will be a grand finale to the community activities happening across the city.

After the announcement, the ECHO contacted Liverpool City Council to learn more on the future of our own council-led fireworks events and if we can ever anticipate their return.

A Liverpool City Council spokesperson said: “River of Light has proven incredibly popular over the past decade, attracting tens of thousands of visitors to the city each year.

“It provides a multi-day, accessible family event that runs for more than a week in the lead-up to Bonfire Night, coinciding with the October half-term holiday, rather than taking place on a single night.