- November 24, 2024
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Crowds line a caution-tape barrier on Siesta Key for the annual fireworks show. The Siesta Key Chamber of Commerce fireworks began just after 9 p.m. on Siesta Key Beach.
Fireworks explode over Siesta Key beach during the annual Fourth of July celebration.
Cape Coral resident Elizabeth Khin holds her two-year-old son, Austin Khin, during Siesta Key's 26th annual fireworks show. It was the first time Austin had seen fireworks.
Fireworks explode over a chanting crowd on Siesta Key Beach. Lead pyrotechnician Craig Merrill and his crew lit 2,800 fireworks during the display.
The Siesta Key Chamber of Commerce is hoping to maintain the show's size in the upcoming years, with fundraising already on track for next year.
Elizabeth and Paul Khin arrived at Siesta Key Beach at 4 p.m. Monday with their 2-year-old son, Austin Khin. They set up their open faced tent, unloaded Austin's toys, played with bubbles and waited for the main event.
The fireworks started just after 9 p.m. Austin Khin pointed and yelled, identifying the colors of the fireworks bursting near enough that ash fell on the Khin’s tent.
The Siesta Key Chamber of Commerce was able to maintain the show’s size from its 25th anniversary last year, and Siesta Key Chamber of Commerce membership director Suzanne Roberge says fundraising is on track for next year.
As it adjusts to a new model to pay for the event, the organization hopes the show will continue as is.
“People love the show, and we don't want to regress in the show that we're having,” said Chamber member Michael Gatz. “As long as we can see the same kind of fundraising every year, why not?”
The show's orchestrator, Craig Merrill, led a crew that shot off 2,800 shells for a chanting crowd on Siesta Key.
His assistant, Andrew Thompson, said Merrill had a cheesy grin on his face as Merrill attempted to trick the audience.
“We gave everybody a little false finale to make them think it's over, and then we really light it up,” Merrill said.
Merrill has been Siesta Key's lead pyrotechnician 14 of the last 15 years. The only time he missed the fireworks show was the year his daughter was born. He says the crowd’s cheers after the finale is what keeps him going year after year.
This year, Elizabeth and Paul Khin were two of the people cheering as the show came to a close. It was their first year watching Siesta Key’s fireworks, but Elizabeth Khin says it won't be their last.
“This will be a family tradition,” she said.
