Fireworks cancelled at two long-running Canada Day events in London

East London and Byron celebrations will continue this year – but without a key tradition.

A decades-long Canada Day tradition in two London neighbourhoods is coming to an end this year.

After more than 20 years of lighting up the sky, East London Canada Celebrations has confirmed it is cancelling its fireworks show.

The decision to cancel the fireworks at East Lions Community Centre was “really, really hard,” said Leah Thomas, creative and communications director for the Argyle Business

The event received nearly half its usual federal grant funding through the Celebrate Canada program this year, an “unexpected cut” of 40 to 50 per cent that hurt the budget and contributed to the cancellation, Thomas said.

“In years past, we’ve received a certain amount and this year, it was nearly half of what we normally would receive, which obviously impacts us,” she said. “The cost of fireworks is going up. So unfortunately, the amount that we were used to paying just doesn’t go as far as it used to.”

Hiring trained professionals to stage the fireworks show costs about $12,000 alone, Thomas said.

The BIA also looked for sponsorships to fill the gap but came up short. The event had about seven sponsors as of Wednesday, down from its usual 12.

“We weren’t able to source and confirm sponsorships this year,” she said. “And by the time of the planning for the event, we would have everything confirmed.”

The funding shortfall also forced the BIA to increase its overall event budget by about $8,000.

“It’s not like we have zero budget,” Thomas said. “It’s just not enough of the budget to commit to the fireworks.”

Thomas said money originally intended for fireworks will instead go toward “beefing up” the programming for the daytime celebrations.

“We will be doing our best to still make it a fun and worthwhile experience, even without the fireworks,” she said.

The free event runs from noon to 7 p.m. at East Lions Community Centre, 1731 Churchill Ave., and includes live music, face painting, a vendor market, food trucks, free swimming and a wrestling show.

The news follows Byron’s fireworks cancellation announced earlier this month.

For more than 40 years, the Byron Optimists have hosted a Canada Day celebration at the Byron sports complex.

This year, donations and fundraising fell short, said Richard Hooper, former Optimist Club of Byron president and Canada Day chairperson.

The event costs about $25,000, with $14,000 going toward the half-hour fireworks display. This year’s budget is $6,000.

Hooper said he applied for the federal grant, which is usually around $5,000, but did not receive it.

“I was definitely against not cutting out the fireworks because I think the fireworks kind of ended the whole thing,” he said. “And it put something in the back of people’s minds . . . This was truly a celebration.”

When it came down to fireworks or giving back to the community, Hooper said the money went back into community initiatives instead.

“The funds that we do have, we still commit to the community that are going to benefit from it, like the Salvation Army and the Westminster Breakfast Club,” he said.

Another planned event – a ceremony for new Canadians – also had to be cancelled before its debut because of funding shortfalls, Hooper said.

“But with the lack of funds, really, we weren’t able to do that . . . It can’t happen because of donations, organization, red tape and all the rest of it,” he said.

About 7,000 people attended the event in 2025, Hooper said, but he expects attendance to drop to about 4,000 this year without fireworks.

“But once they see and they hear that the Optimist Club is putting on a family Canada Day celebration, we always have great turnouts that way,” he said.

The free event runs from noon to 6 p.m. and will feature bouncy castles, food trucks, music and open soccer fields. Parking will also be free.

“It will be a great celebration,” Hooper said.

Londoners looking for fireworks can still head to White Oaks Park, where South London Canada Day plans to light up the sky.

Organizer and Community Council White Oaks president Chris Ewer said the event is also feeling pressure from lost sponsors, but he applied for the federal Celebrate Canada grant this year and received it. He declined to say how much.

An 18-minute fireworks show costs about $10,000, including security, said Ewer, who has organized the event for 25 years.

But he said the fireworks nearly didn’t happen last year. The city helped cover security costs after the event came up short on funding, and day-of fundraising kept organizers out of the red.

“We came very close to not doing it last year ourselves,” he added. “It came down to the wire, and then we were able to figure it out, and away we went. But we did some fundraising on the day of and if we hadn’t done that, we would have been in the hole.”

The White Oaks event runs from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. and includes live entertainment, a kids’ zone with free inflatable rides from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m., food vendors, a free spray pad, a cake-cutting ceremony at 5:30 p.m., a family movie in the gym at 6:30 p.m. and fireworks at 10 p.m.

By Beatriz Baleeiro, The London Free Press