The Jaffrey Chamber of Commerce announced that it will no longer host fireworks festivals due to safety concerns in the wake of last year’s bomb threat.
The Jaffrey Festival of Fireworks was one of the largest fireworks events in New England for the past 22 years. Co-Chair Cyndy Burgess says the Jaffrey police performed a security assessment and filed a report to the chamber.
“In order to hold this event again, it would require significantly more security measures than we had used in the past.”
So much extra security, says Burgess, that ticket and parking prices would become prohibitive to a family-friendly event. Burgess says the decision reached between the Jaffrey Chamber of Commerce, Atlas Pyrovision Productions and the Silver Ranch Airport was a difficult one. She says the economic impact will have a ripple effect across the region.
Last August, a bomb threat was made that led to the cancellation of the fireworks festival just before the event. Jaffrey police have not made any arrests in connection to the threats.