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Attendance at New Canaan’s annual Fourth of July fireworks celebration at Waveny Park fell dramatically from last year, with town officials estimating only 2,000 to 3,000 people attended the event, according to Parks & Recreation Commission member David Shea.
Speaking during the commission’s July 8 meeting at Lapham Center, Shea said unofficial attendance figures were far below the nearly 8,000 people who attended the 2025 celebration.
“The unofficial attendance was really down from 2025,” Shea said. “The estimates that we have from parking cars, somewhere between 2,000 to 3,000, which is really well off the almost 8,000 of 2025.”
Shea attributed the decline to both the extreme heat and forecasts calling for possible severe weather.
“That was because of the heat and probably because of the weather forecast,” he said. “Field parking was still available at 7:30, which is really rare.”
The lower turnout came before a fast-moving thunderstorm forced officials to end the event early Saturday evening as thousands of attendees left Waveny Park.
Shea’s comments came during an update on the Family Fourth celebration to the appointed body.
At the Board of Selectmen’s meeting earlier this week, First Selectman Dionna Carlson addressed the town’s decision to move forward with the fireworks, saying forecasts Friday afternoon showed only a low chance of thunderstorms when the final decision had to be made.
The fireworks arrived at Waveny at 8 a.m. Saturday, and crews began setting up. By about 3:30 p.m., weather forecasts indicated the probability of storms was increasing. Carlson said she spoke with Parks & Recreation officials at 5 p.m., and the town decided to move the fireworks display earlier than originally scheduled. A text alert notifying residents of the change was sent to subscribers.
As conditions deteriorated, emergency officials monitored the approaching storm.
“When we noticed that the storm was about eight miles out, we made the call. Everybody needs to get to their cars,” Carlson said.
Police, fire and EMS personnel were already on site. The New Canaan Fire Department responded to approximately 20 calls that evening, compared with its typical average of about three calls per day. Despite the severe weather, no injuries were reported.
“We’re all really blessed that no one was injured,” Carlson said.
Who Made the call to allow the event? The radar was way in advance it Should have been CANCELED
This was a tough call, and no one is to blame. Our kudos to the many departments who got us all in and out safely and to the town departments that hustled to return Waveny back to its pristine state. I returned at 9am Sunday morning, and the whole area was cleaned up perfectly. Our gratitude to the organizers and our thanks everyone involved.
This is for tomorrow. Same issued on July 3 for July 4 by Eversource, Bational Eather Service NOAA and the Coast Guard. “Eversource: We are prepared for severe thunderstorms and damaging winds Saturday afternoon and evening. These conditions may cause outages. Monitor forecast and prepare. See storm center: eversource.com”
The Selectman’s office and OEM director should learn how to read. Not think they are above it all and not risk the health and welfare of New Canaanites. Because as our First Selysaid: “Because the Fireworks Truck passed the GW bridge” 🤡
Kudos to NCPD and CERT though for getting folks out of the event. Kudos to G-d that there were no serious injuries
Learned – Town of New Canaan was not looking out for our safety and/or don’t know how to look at weather radar maps – Weather said 90% chance of severe weather at 8pm 9pm – Local leaders should have been paying attention to radar every 15 mins and given more advanced notice – If I am not mistaken – there was a mobile command post with all the tools they needed in it with computers paid for by the tax payers.