Positives of fireworks

[bangbangpow]

NC for this as I don't want this to descend into a bun fight from the anti-fireworkers.

I've only ever seen negative firework related threads on MN. People spouting on about how they're dangerous (which I completely agree they are if used improperly) and how they noise distresses pets (despite the neighbours dog's ongoing barking distressing me year round).

I personally love fireworks. They're great fun, bring people together and the whole family (multiple families) can enjoy them together.

This is a thread about why fireworks should not be banned and how people use them themselves responsibly.

Personally we, every year, attend a family fireworks party every year on one of my uncles fields. There is a large bonfire, everyone brings a dish and fireworks are set off a large distance from where we all stand watching them. The display lasts maximum 1 hour and the neighbours are also invited.

Please share your positive fireworks stories and reasons they should not be banned (though I completely agree they should be heavily regulated like alcohol).

From a bonfire night lover x

@yellowallpaper

They didn't drop foaming at the mouth as you are implying all animals do.

Please tell me where I implied this.

We enjoy them, we have young children (2 and 3) they love them too. It’s only a few nights a year (bonfire night for a few nights and New Year’s Eve), I don’t see the issue?! As long as they aren’t going off after 10pm or so why not enjoy them?

Re PTSD, while I appreciate mumsnetters' concern for those of us who have/had it, pretty much anything can be a trigger - emotions, smells (really common), bodily sensations, sounds, times of day, times of year - it depends on the nature of the trauma, how your brain processes information, how you're feeling generally, how much sleep you've had the night before etc. Banning fireworks won't stop it. They're not even a trigger for most people. Therapy is what you need, given that it's a mental illness; nice as it would be to ban anything that could possibly exacerbate mental illness, you really would need to ban a lot of things.

@JonnyPocketRocket We have good double glazing but can't turn the tv up enough to drown out the ones that sound like bombs going off. Some of them even make the windows rattle!

Those posters insisting it is only for a couple of nights a year well maybe it is where you live but certainly not everywhere.

Where I lived until last year (and where most of my family and friends still live) the fireworks go on for weeks night after night with, if you are lucky, maybe one night firework free.

A couple of my friends have pets that are really terrified of them. They shake uncontrollably, drool massively, run round trying to find somewhere to hide/get away from the noise. They have to use tranquillisers which, obviously, they are not happy doing night after night after night

No one would be complaining if it was just one or two nights in the year.

But it’s not, it’s completely out of hand. Week after week of fireworks, often in the middle of the night is not acceptable.

They were fun as a kid but once I reached adulthood they became a bit "seen one, seen 'em all" and lost their appeal. They're just the same one year as they were the last.

And I shudder at the thought of what kind of byzantine twist Greta Thunberg would get into her ethically-sourced unbleached cotton knickers thinking about the environmental impact of all those metals burning in the name of mere entertainment.

I like them. And home ones too. Much fun!

I am over the moon that I've moved house, last year my neighbour set of £600 worth of fireworks between 5pm and 11pm constantly. On a residential street of a big estate with small gardens. And around here they go off for weeks around 5th Nov, even in daylight, and with youngsters setting them off in the street.

I'm all for a ban on selling them to members of the public, should be licensed only. And it's ridiculous how many people are selling them illegally on fb!