November 13, 2025
Following last year’s fireworks show, Light Up Lakewood event organizer LakewoodAlive, in collaboration with the City of Lakewood’s Fire Department, have determined that due to safety concerns the 13-year cherished fireworks show will come to a close. This year’s event is Saturday, December 6 from 4-8 PM on Detroit Avenue in Downtown Lakewood.
“It was incredible to introduce winter fireworks to the community, and it served as one of the only such displays in the region, elevating Light Up Lakewood as a premier holiday celebration,” said LakewoodAlive’s Executive Director Ian Andrews. “Sadly, the weather is just too unpredictable, and with incredibly limited options to safely host pyrotechnics in a super-dense city, we determined it best to cease this component while celebrating the joy the show has brought to so many smiling faces.”
“We’ve worked collaboratively with LakewoodAlive, two different fireworks vendors, and at two different sites over 13 years to balance safety with ringing in the holidays,” said Lakewood Fire Chief Ryan Fairbanks. “While Kauffman Park provided the required drop radius we needed for a safe show, we’ve decided to proactively move on from fireworks due to the inability to predict wind gusts and sudden changes of wind direction.”
In 2011, Lakewood resident and volunteer Lou McMahon pitched the idea to LakewoodAlive, citing the fireworks show–and vendor–at Progressive Field as a model for a show in a tight, city-setting. University of Akron Lakewood director Suzanne Metelko jumped on-board as the first sponsor of the show. Lou’s vision was to give Lakewood a giant surprise. The lighting ceremony, held at the southeast corner of Belle and Detroit in front of the original Lakewood Hospital building, introduced the surprise moment.
“It was quite a thing to keep a fireworks show under wraps but we wanted to give Lakewood an incredible, unexpected moment. We partnered with the Fire Department and parking garage owner behind Lakewood Center North for the first of 9 shows,” said Andrews. “In 2011, we flipped the switch and lit up two tall pines in front of the hospital, then immediately started the fireworks directly behind everyone. To see folks quickly turn in awe at a winter fireworks display is something I’ll never forget.”
The show has been completely paid for with private donations and for more than a decade, First Federal Lakewood has sponsored the show while also serving as title sponsor of Light Up Lakewood. This partnership with LakewoodAlive, along with a reduced rate from vendor American Fireworks of Hudson, Ohio and support from Lakewood Fire, Police, and the Streets Department, has led to so many memorable moments.
The entire community is invited to celebrate the holiday season at Light Up Lakewood on the first Saturday of December each year for the annual parade, Family Fun Zone with a holiday train, visits with Santa, Holiday Market, vendors, food trucks and tables, beer garden, lighting, and so much more. Visit lakewoodalive.org/r/light-up-lakewood-2025 to learn more about this year’s event.