July 4th Fireworks in 2026: We need your help!

Dunnellon Fireworks for the Nation’s 250^th Birthday

As a patriotic person and a lover of fireworks, it makes me a little sad every year when I see everyone jumping on Facebook wondering why Dunnellon doesn’t have fireworks.

First, I want to say I am pretty sure most of us do want fireworks. The Chamber is willing to put in the manpower it takes to accomplish this goal, but we are going to need the help of the community to pay for it.

Let me explain…

We did have fireworks, but the last time was 2016. We have a lot of new folks here, so I bet you didn’t know that. We held them at Dunnellon High School on the football field. They were fantastic! We had vendors selling hot dogs and other food, live music, and things for kids to do while everyone waited for dark for the fireworks show to start.

The Chamber was doing the planning, but there were some community members with deep pockets who helped a lot in paying for it. Some of those community members are no longer with us.

In case you did not know, but it is expensive to blow stuff up for a few minutes! Not only do you have the pyrotechnics display, which is the greatest expense, you also have insurance, rental fees, and that sort of thing. It really adds up.

People ask, “Why can’t the City pay for it?” Especially when they see other small towns and cities nearby which have included fireworks in their City’s budgets. In the case of Dunnellon, we have a unique geographical situation. The City limits are just 8.82 square miles, and the City’s population (in 2024) was estimated at 2,403. Most people who have a Dunnellon address actually are not taxpayers in the Dunnellon City limits.

Outside of the Dunnellon City limits, in the zip codes 34431, 34432, 34433 and 34434, there are approximately 40,000 more people, in Citrus Springs, Rainbow Springs, Rainbow Lakes Estates, Hills of Ocala and other areas. It’s difficult to ask a population of 2,403 to foot the bill for a $25,000 fireworks show, and if the Chamber were to attempt to fund this without pledges, it would take an additional 170 members to join the Chamber in order to afford it. That’s a lot of businesses!

However, if even half of the 40,000 people in the areas surrounding the City limits pledged just a little bit, it would be easy to raise the money for a fireworks show.

So here is our ask: if you want fireworks, how much can you help? What can you contribute? Before we can move forward planning something with this price tag, we need a commitment from the community to help fund it.

Please scan the code or click the link to fill out a pledge form, so we can move forward planning a spectacular 2026 fireworks show for the Dunnellon community! If we get more than enough, the Chamber will establish a special fund and roll over the extra to the 2027 fireworks.

Pledge to fund the 2026 Fireworks