Swiss fireworks initiative puts large public displays in doubt

Large public fireworks may still be allowed if Switzerland’s fireworks initiative is approved, but the proposal’s key test of significance beyond the region remains undefined, SRF reports.

Initiative committee member Marco Mettler said the law would leave it to Parliament to define what counts as an event with significance beyond its immediate region. Organised public displays for Switzerland’s national day on August 1 would likely qualify, he said, because the holiday is a national occasion. But he stressed that this was a belief, not a certainty.

That uncertainty leaves organisers unsure whether their events would be permitted. The Vogelherz Club and Ravellen Club in Oensingen stage a fireworks display every three years for the town’s solstice celebration. The event grew out of a feud lasting more than a century between two halves of the village over bonfires.

Club president Patrick Flury and event chair Thomas Bader are confident the display would continue. They say it is among Switzerland’s largest and ranks among Europe’s five biggest. The event attracts tens of thousands of visitors, and fireworks professionals from countries including Japan, France, Germany and Italy come to see its equipment and installations.

More than 6,000 launch tubes are used for the show, which involves several tonnes of fireworks over about an hour. The canton of Solothurn would have to approve the display if the initiative passed, although the event already requires a permit as a major gathering.

Opponents warn that approval of the initiative could permanently end many displays, from village festivals to club anniversaries. The next Oensingen show is due in three years. The next Winkelried festival in Stans is scheduled for July, while no date is known for a possible fireworks display celebrating an FC Luzern league title.