They're Coming For Your Fireworks - Don't Let Them!

If you love fireworks, this is the moment to say so.

The Government has opened a public consultation that could change what you're allowed to buy and set off in your own back garden, and it closes at 11:59pm on 7th October 2026. Whether you're a Bonfire Night regular, you light up your garden for Diwali or Eid, you see in the New Year with a bang, or you just enjoy a good display with the kids a few times a year, the outcome of this consultation affects you directly.

We're not going to pretend this is a small issue so we're asking you to spend ten minutes making your voice heard, because right now, the people who want fireworks restricted or banned outright are far more organised about responding than the people who actually enjoy them.

What's actually happening

On 16th July 2026, the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS), part of the Department for Business and Trade, launched a 12-week consultation called Fireworks and Pyrotechnics in the UK. It's open to anyone, you don't need to work in the trade, own a business, or be an "expert." You just need an opinion, because this is exactly the kind of decision that should be shaped by the people it affects.

There are two proposals worth knowing about in detail:

1. Cutting noise limits. Consumer fireworks are currently capped at 120 decibels. The Government's core proposal is to bring that down to 110 decibels, which it estimates would remove around a third of all fireworks currently available to the public and shift them into professional-only use. The consultation also asks for views on going even further, to 100dB or 90dB, alongside an option to keep things as they are.

2. Restricting multi-shot fireworks aka cakes/barrages. The consultation proposes to "clarify" a rule (Regulation 33(1)(g) of the 2015 Regulations) that currently restricts specific high-risk components. But trade bodies, including the British Fireworks Association (BFA), argue this isn't really a clarification at all. They say OPSS has previously confirmed the rule only applies to individual shot tubes over 30mm or with report effects, not to standard multi-shot cakes and barrages built from smaller, already-compliant tubes. Read the way the BFA reads this, it would impact the vast majority of the cake and barrage products available to you today, which the BFA estimates make up over 70% of all consumer (F2/F3) firework sales, taking them off the shelves.

We think it's important to be straight with you: the Government has not proposed banning fireworks outright, and it explicitly states it doesn't see a full ban as a proportionate response. But between a significant cut to noise limits and a much stricter reading of what counts as an acceptable multi-shot product, the practical effect for most households could be a shopping list that looks very, very different by next Bonfire Night.

Why this matters beyond

Fireworks have been part of British life for over 400 years. They're woven into how modern, multicultural Britain celebrates — Diwali, Eid, Chinese New Year, New Year's Eve, weddings, christenings, milestone birthdays. For a lot of families, a firework display in the garden isn't a novelty, it's a tradition passed down and one they look forward to every year.

The legal firework trade also supports thousands of jobs across the UK, from manufacturers and importers to seasonal retail staff. The BFA puts the figure at around 4,000 full and seasonal roles, generating tens of millions of pounds in tax revenue. That's real, local economic activity that depends on people being able to legally buy the products we sell.

We're not going to pretend nobody has concerns — and neither should you

Let's be honest about something: not everyone loves fireworks, and that's a fair position to hold. OPSS's own research found strong public support for some kind of regulatory change, with noise disturbance, antisocial use, and the impact on pets, vulnerable people, and livestock cited most often. Those are legitimate concerns and we have always passionately advocated for responsible and safe firework use.

We argue the honest answer to bad behaviour is better enforcement of the rules that already exist. The UK's legal firework trade is already governed by more than a dozen laws covering safety, storage, sale, age verification, and labelling — not blanket restrictions that penalise the millions of people who use fireworks safely, considerately, and legally every year. Setting off fireworks after 11pm, or in a public place, is already a criminal offence. The problem in most of the cases people complain about isn't a lack of rules; it's a lack of enforcement against the small minority who ignore them. Push legal, regulated products off the shelves and you don't remove demand. Instead, you push it toward unregulated, unsafe imports sold online with none of the same safety testing or accountability you get from licenced retailers like Epic Fireworks.

How to actually make your voice count

This only works if real people, in their own words, say what fireworks mean to them. A flood of identical, copy-pasted responses is easy for a consultation analysis to spot and discount. A genuine, personal response carries far more weight than a template.

Here's how to respond before the deadline:

• Respond to the official consultation directly on GOV.UK: Fireworks and pyrotechnics in the UK. This is the consultation that will actually be counted by the Department for Business and Trade.
• Use the Consultation Answer Builder at saferfireworks.co.uk, a free tool built to help you work through the official questions and put your own response together in plain English in just 2 minutes.
• Write it in your own words. Talk about what fireworks mean to you and your family — the traditions, the celebrations, the memories — and be honest about safety and consideration too. A response that shows you take safety seriously carries more credibility, not less.

You've got until 11:59pm on Wednesday 7th October 2026. That's it. No extensions, no second chances. So if you've ever stood in your garden with a sparkler in hand, oohing and aahing as the the sky lights up, this is the moment to protect the thing you love.

Have your say today.