Photographs courtesy Louis Rideout
When Cincinnati Parks announced last year that the July 4th Fireworks at Ault Park were permanently canceled, the community reacted. Citing “the growing number of attendees” and “increasing complexity” to organize, a March 13, 2024, Instagram post declared that the volunteer-run event had become too difficult for organizers to plan, produce, and manage safely.
A subsequent fund-raising effort spearheaded by Councilman Seth Walsh, alongside significant donations from individuals, local organizations, and corporate sponsors alike, secured tens of thousands of dollars. The money was used to help fund a new partnership with Cincinnati Parks and the Cincinnati Parks Foundation, and Ault Park declared that event was back … and back to stay.
Brittany Speed and Anne Sesler—volunteers for their 15th and second years, respectively—are two of four leads who handle the event’s organization by securing funding. The duo sat down with Cincinnati Magazine to discuss the near-collapse of the fireworks show, how it came back (for good), and what we can expect to see this year.
Last year, Ault Park Fireworks were canceled because it got “too big.” How has the event changed in recent years?
Brittany Speed: It’s really grown in size over the years. It moved from a local neighborhood [event] to something the tristate area is aware of. It’s been largely volunteer-run by community members, and as it’s grown in size, it’s now requiring the effort and attention of other entities in the city and corporate sponsors, such as UDF, the Ault Park Advisory Council (APAC), and the neighborhood community councils of Hyde Park, Oakley, and Mt. Lookout.
What happened when it hit that breaking point in the transition from neighborhood event to tri-state celebration?
Speed: APAC had assumed fiscal responsibility and liability for it [in the past], and essentially, the event was too big for them to assume full responsibility anymore. APAC had had conversations with Ault Park for the last couple of years, saying, “This is really the last year we can do this,” and last year was that year. No one else had really stepped up [to take APAC’s place], so Ault Park officially said the event was canceled. That’s when Anne and Councilman Walsh and some other folks came around. They didn’t want to see it canceled. I jumped on because I didn’t want to see it canceled. From an action standpoint, it kind of had to happen that way, where a big event is canceled for then the right people to come forward.
What had to happen to solve the issue?
Anne Sesler: I had seen on Facebook that it was being canceled because the volunteer group had fallen apart. Like a lot of other people, I was upset by that. Councilman Seth Walsh had stepped up and was trying to figure out how it could still happen, so I reached out to him, and he was able to talk with city leaders, and city managers did a study of some other options to keep the fireworks. We figured out a way—the city became a big partner in this, helping us utilize Cincinnati Parks. We help fund their staff to pull it off. I think that [labor] was one of the big issues. It’s a big event to manage—making sure you order fireworks and you have food trucks and police officers—and Cincinnati Parks really have expertise in that area. It’s been terrific. The Cincinnati Parks Foundation, which is a private foundation supporting parks, helps accept our donations. They lend some expertise in financial management and are a trusted source to hold the funds and make sure they’re well-managed.
Speed: The Parks provided more support this past year, and then this year as well, which has been a critical piece of success. [Before then], it’s largely been an all-volunteer effort—putting on a 7,000-person event with just volunteers. Having Cincinnati Parks now have designated staff to help with this has been a huge catalyst in enabling us to [keep the event], and to have less liability as well.
Did other community members step up to help with funding?
Sesler: Brittany and I, along with Kendra and Rob Thornton, lead the event’s organization. We had to raise $35,000 in a very short period of time, because at the time we were at the deadline for when we had to order the fireworks, which obviously is the key part of the production. Luckily, UDF came through again as a sponsor. Some neighbors came through in a big way. A couple family foundations came in last minute, and then we had a lot of individual donations that really helped. We had a huge groundswell of support to save [the event] last year, and that was heartening. And the way we’ve got it working now with the support from Parks, it has worked out really great. Same with neighborhood community councils, everyone committed again.
Do you feel like the event is on a path to continued success in the years to come?
Speed: I do. The toughest thing about doing this every year is finding the funds, ensuring that we have our core sponsors that are willing. Now that Cincinnati Parks and the police have more established roles in the event, I think that helps alleviate some of the volunteer time, because that’s the other big thing, is just finding people who are willing to show up unpaid to help.
What can we expect this year?
Sesler: We’re going to try a beer truck, we’re going to add a couple more food trucks—lines for the food trucks were too long last year, so we wanted to add a couple more so people had a better experience. We have a bigger stage and live music again. Families and kids have light-up toys and bracelets, parents and kids are throwing the ball to each other, people are socializing on picnic blankets before it actually is dark enough for fireworks. We’re trying to make it a little bigger this year, a little more. We’re changing our traffic pattern a bit so there’s less congestion. We’re trying to do more to make folks have a better experience.
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