{"id":3572,"date":"2026-06-16T05:35:06","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T05:35:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=3572"},"modified":"2026-06-16T05:35:06","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T05:35:06","slug":"safety-harbor-fireworks-staying-at-waterfront-park-after-wildlife-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=3572","title":{"rendered":"Safety Harbor fireworks staying at Waterfront Park after wildlife concerns"},"content":{"rendered":"<div> <!-- --> <!-- --><p><span><strong>SAFETY HARBOR, Fla.<\/strong> &#8211; <\/span>A planned move for Safety Harbor\u2019s Fourth of July fireworks celebration is being reversed after wildlife advocates raised concerns about protected birds nesting near the proposed new location.<\/p><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=3567\">1 killed after aircraft crashes in Polk County cow pasture, wooded area: PCSO<\/a><\/p> <p>City commissioners voted unanimously to keep the annual fireworks display at Waterfront Park, where it has traditionally been held.<\/p> <!-- --><p>What we know:<\/p> <!-- --><div><\/div> <!-- --><p>The city initially planned to move the celebration to Safety Harbor City Park because Waterfront Park is undergoing construction after damage from the 2024 hurricane season.<\/p> <!-- --><p>Its pier and marina are currently being rebuilt, leaving parts of the waterfront area fenced off and unavailable.<\/p> <!-- --><div>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-medium_large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3569\" height=\"432\" src=\"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/fcd0af5a8272b1d5a76f9088435a1e58-768x432.webp\" width=\"768\" srcset=\"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/fcd0af5a8272b1d5a76f9088435a1e58-768x432.webp 768w, https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/fcd0af5a8272b1d5a76f9088435a1e58-300x169.webp 300w, https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/fcd0af5a8272b1d5a76f9088435a1e58.webp 932w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure>\n <\/div> <!-- --><p>Wildlife advocates urged the city to reconsider the move, pointing to nesting birds around Alligator Lake near City Park.<\/p> <!-- --><p>The other side:<\/p> <!-- --><p>Fairl Thomas with Birds in Helping Hands said fireworks can cause problems for nesting birds, especially when adult birds are startled from their nests.<\/p> <!-- --><p>She said Alligator Lake is home to several protected species, including a wood stork nest, as well as little blue herons, reddish egrets, and roseate spoonbills.<\/p><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=3562\">Friends raise more than $400 for friend critically injured in Pasco County crash<\/a><\/p> <!-- --><p>Mayor Joe Ayoub said the city wanted to balance celebrating America\u2019s 250th anniversary with protecting local wildlife.<\/p> <!-- --><div>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-medium_large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3570\" height=\"432\" src=\"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/bb0609de60e29a1c23cb920b6b3f5f6b-768x432.webp\" width=\"768\" srcset=\"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/bb0609de60e29a1c23cb920b6b3f5f6b-768x432.webp 768w, https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/bb0609de60e29a1c23cb920b6b3f5f6b-300x169.webp 300w, https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/bb0609de60e29a1c23cb920b6b3f5f6b.webp 932w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure>\n <\/div> <!-- --><p>What&#8217;s next:<\/p> <!-- --><p>The fireworks will stay at Waterfront Park, but the city says the event will look different this year.<\/p> <!-- --><p>Officials say vendors will not be allowed because of limited space due to construction. Visitors are encouraged to bring their own refreshments and plan ahead for parking.<\/p> <!-- --><p>The mayor says the pier and marina are expected to reopen to the public sometime in August.<\/p> <!-- --><div>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-medium_large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3571\" height=\"432\" src=\"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/5bf043e4392cecfee2cba54c586c41d3-768x432.webp\" width=\"768\" srcset=\"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/5bf043e4392cecfee2cba54c586c41d3-768x432.webp 768w, https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/5bf043e4392cecfee2cba54c586c41d3-300x169.webp 300w, https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/5bf043e4392cecfee2cba54c586c41d3.webp 932w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure>\n <\/div> <!-- --><p>Some wildlife advocates are also hoping the discussion leads to a closer look at alternatives to fireworks in future years, including drone light shows.<\/p><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=3556\">Residents are pushing back against a proposed Live Nation concert venue in Ybor City<\/a><\/p> <!-- --> <!-- --> <!-- --> <\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A planned move for Safety Harbor\u2019s Fourth of July fireworks celebration is being reversed after wildlife advocates raised concerns about protected birds nesting near the proposed new location.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3568,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[274,9],"tags":[275,11],"class_list":["post-3572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-america-250","category-pinellas-county","tag-america-250","tag-pinellas-county"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Safety Harbor fireworks staying at Waterfront Park after wildlife concerns - Tampa moving journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=3572\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Safety Harbor fireworks staying at Waterfront Park after wildlife concerns - Tampa moving journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A planned move for Safety Harbor\u2019s Fourth of July fireworks celebration is being reversed after wildlife advocates raised concerns about protected birds nesting near the proposed new location.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=3572\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Tampa moving journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-16T05:35:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/fcd0af5a8272b1d5a76f9088435a1e58.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"932\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"524\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=3572#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=3572\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/78095676a3b6259b7b3bc65f6997dc2a\"},\"headline\":\"Safety Harbor fireworks staying at Waterfront Park after wildlife concerns\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-16T05:35:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=3572\"},\"wordCount\":331,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=3572#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/fd0e64cdc4a1a9c5d931df076564d009.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"America 250\",\"Pinellas County\"],\"articleSection\":[\"America 250\",\"Pinellas County\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=3572#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=3572\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=3572\",\"name\":\"Safety Harbor fireworks staying at Waterfront Park after wildlife concerns - Tampa moving journal\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=3572#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=3572#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/fd0e64cdc4a1a9c5d931df076564d009.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-16T05:35:06+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/78095676a3b6259b7b3bc65f6997dc2a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=3572#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=3572\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=3572#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/fd0e64cdc4a1a9c5d931df076564d009.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/fd0e64cdc4a1a9c5d931df076564d009.webp\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?p=3572#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Safety Harbor fireworks staying at Waterfront Park after wildlife concerns\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Tampa moving journal\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/78095676a3b6259b7b3bc65f6997dc2a\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampamovingjournal.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Safety Harbor fireworks staying at Waterfront Park after wildlife concerns - Tampa moving journal","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=3572","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Safety Harbor fireworks staying at Waterfront Park after wildlife concerns - Tampa moving journal","og_description":"A planned move for Safety Harbor\u2019s Fourth of July fireworks celebration is being reversed after wildlife advocates raised concerns about protected birds nesting near the proposed new location.","og_url":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=3572","og_site_name":"Tampa moving journal","article_published_time":"2026-06-16T05:35:06+00:00","og_image":[{"width":932,"height":524,"url":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/fcd0af5a8272b1d5a76f9088435a1e58.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=3572#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=3572"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/#\/schema\/person\/78095676a3b6259b7b3bc65f6997dc2a"},"headline":"Safety Harbor fireworks staying at Waterfront Park after wildlife concerns","datePublished":"2026-06-16T05:35:06+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=3572"},"wordCount":331,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=3572#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/fd0e64cdc4a1a9c5d931df076564d009.webp","keywords":["America 250","Pinellas County"],"articleSection":["America 250","Pinellas County"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=3572#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=3572","url":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=3572","name":"Safety Harbor fireworks staying at Waterfront Park after wildlife concerns - Tampa moving journal","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=3572#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=3572#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/fd0e64cdc4a1a9c5d931df076564d009.webp","datePublished":"2026-06-16T05:35:06+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/#\/schema\/person\/78095676a3b6259b7b3bc65f6997dc2a"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=3572#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=3572"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=3572#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/fd0e64cdc4a1a9c5d931df076564d009.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/fd0e64cdc4a1a9c5d931df076564d009.webp","width":1200,"height":630},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=3572#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Safety Harbor fireworks staying at Waterfront Park after wildlife concerns"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/","name":"Tampa moving journal","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/#\/schema\/person\/78095676a3b6259b7b3bc65f6997dc2a","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com"],"url":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3572"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3572\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}