While Sacramento will continue to be a place of revelry this New Year’s Eve, fireworks will not be part of the celebration for a third consecutive year.
The fireworks show at the Old Sacramento Waterfront — funded by the City of Sacramento and produced by Visit Sacramento in coordination with the City of West Sacramento — will not be taking place this year because of logistical challenges in the area and no viable launch site.
“The City and Visit Sacramento had been actively working with West Sacramento to identify a safe launch site for the fireworks,” said Tim Swanson, media and communications manager for the City of Sacramento. “However, multiple large-scale events scheduled for the evening as well as traffic and other concerns have created operational issues that we unfortunately have not been able to overcome.”
The launch site for the fireworks previously had been on the West Sacramento side of the river. This year, the Enchant Christmas event is being held in Sutter Health Park. On the Sacramento side, New Year’s Eve at the Railyards featuring John Summit is expected to draw sizable crowds.
“Other sites, including the Tower Bridge itself, were considered as possible places to launch the fireworks, but ultimately there were either safety, access or traffic concerns,” Swanson said.
There still will be plenty to do Dec. 31 on the Old Sacramento Waterfront, including special dinners, comedy shows and other fun activities, said Scott Ford, economic development director the Downtown Sacramento Partnership.
“There are dozens of ways people can go out and celebrate this New Year’s Eve, both on the Old Sacramento Waterfront and in downtown Sacramento,” he said. “It all depends on what you want to do.”
Sacramento365.com, an online source for year-round events hosted by Visit Sacramento, has a robust list of New Year’s Eve offering, including dance parties, music shows and more.
New Year’s Eve fireworks at the Old Sacramento Waterfront were first introduced in 2001, back when Sacramento had fewer events available for ringing in the new year, Swanson said.
The fireworks show was not held in 2020 and 2021 because of safety concerns related to the COVID pandemic.