JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — We're closing in on one of the biggest party nights of the year. The countdown is on for New Year's Eve and the end of 2021.
There are many options for watching fireworks on Friday night and soon the shores of the St. John's River will be packed with people ready to watch the show. But with recent virus rates spiking, not everyone is choosing to be around big crowds.
If you want to shoot off your own fireworks this year, the experts say now is the time to buy.
"This area over here are the large aerial repeaters," says Josh Pappas of Superior Fireworks, "they're kind of that show in a box sort of thing."
It's the busy season for Josh Pappas at Superior FIreworks. With virus rates on the rise, he's seen plenty of first-time firework shoppers at his store who normally would have gone to city firework displays.
"We've seen that a lot in the last couple of years than we have in the past and that's created a lot of demand on inventory and supply," says Pappas.
Not that fireworks are totally limited, but be prepared to keep your options open.
"If you're looking for something really specific you might have to be flexible based on what's available," says Pappas.
Limited supply and heavy demand are also the case in some smaller roadside pop-up firework shops.
"Especially since COVID, more people are coming and coming earlier because they want to stay home," says Donalee Nobles, "they don't want to be out in big crowds so we are selling out quick."
Donalee Nobles and her twin sister operate a fireworks tent in Mandarin; they actually sleep in the tent overnight to protect their fireworks supply.
"There's not a whole lot available," says Nobles, "through COVID the warehouses were shutdown, there haven't been a lot of people making more fireworks so inventory and supply are definitely down." But still enough inventory to light up the night.
While fireworks are legal to buy right now there are only three days when you can shoot them off legally in Florida: 4th of July, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Both store owners stressed that they hope everyone who buys from them enjoys the holiday safely.