Edmonton eyes city-run Diwali firework display to cut down on illegal fireworks
Posted June 30, 2026 10:28 am.
There were fireworks at Edmonton City Hall on Monday, figuratively speaking.
A discussion took place on the rules around setting off fireworks for celebrations like New Year’s, Canada Day and Diwali.
The owner of an Edmonton fireworks shop says the city’s current rules aren’t working.
“Calgary has already been always banned fireworks, and Calgary always burns on Diwali,” said John Adria, the owner of Uncle John’s Fireworks. “This has happened for decades, and they’ve always banned fireworks. They’ve always had fires. We never had those problems until we banned them.”
Adria told city councillors the tighter restrictions on fireworks passed in 2019 are so strict, even an expert like him has trouble getting one for an event.
The city is looking at how to manage illegal fireworks after a home caught fire during Diwali last fall. Three men were charged with arson.
Ward Sspomitapi councillor Jo-Anne Wright is hopeful a new plan will cut down on the massive uptick in fireworks complaints to 311.
“I’ve been trying to deal with the fireworks issues for about four or five years,” she said.
Edmonton is looking to work with the South Asian community to provide smaller neighbourhood events with legal and permitted fireworks for Diwali, as well as a central celebration of the festival of lights at city hall.
“Recognising here, with the event at city hall, giving people the opportunity to celebrate in their communities, I think is really important,” Wright said.
Those speaking for Edmonton’s South Asian community say while they’re glad to see the support for Diwali events, they want to see a bigger celebration closer to the community in Edmonton’s southeast.
“Accessibility is one of the biggest driving factors for why we find that people are not compliant with fireworks; they don’t necessarily have a space for themselves to celebrate the event,” said community advocate Shaminder Parmar. “So, having a centralised place that is accessible, has transit service available, many of the southeast residents are pedestrians, so they really need that accessibility.”
Councillors also heard that a report on bylaws around fireworks will be coming to their desks in the fall.
