It will be rockets red glare and bombs bursting in air like usual in Monterey this Fourth of July holiday, while over in Salinas the annual fireworks show has fizzled out. The difference between pyrotechnics and dark skies, officials say, is the level of financial support from the respective cities and communities.

Shannon Beltran, Monterey’s new Recreation Supervisor, says that despite budgetary constraints, the city of Monterey has perennially chosen to fund the fireworks show.

“The fireworks show has come up in the budgeting process,” she says. “But it’s not going to be cut this year.”

In contrast, the city of Salinas doesn’t contribute any funds to the annual fireworks show. For the last five years, the Rodeo Association, a nonprofit group that manages the Salinas Sports Complex, has rounded up community sponsors to help fund the event. This year, however, support for the fireworks show simply disappeared.

“It’s a lot of work for the Rodeo Association,” says Roger LaFountain, general manager of the Salinas Sports Complex. “And we just weren’t getting the support we needed from the community.”

As a result, LaFountain and the Rodeo Association decided that the Salinas fireworks show was not financially tenable and canceled the event at a budget meeting last January.

“We talked to some other nonprofits about possibly picking the event up, but the numbers made it pretty clear to everybody that there was simply no way to make money,” LaFountain says.

According to LaFountain, fireworks cost roughly $1,000 a minute and the Salinas show has traditionally been 23 minutes. In addition, event organizers must pay for permits and to have fire department and police personnel on hand. All told, the event generally costs $40,000 to stage.

Unfortunately, sponsor support for the fireworks show has dwindled over the five years that the Rodeo Association has been driving it. Last year, LaFountain’s nonprofit was only able to raise $19,500 from community sponsors—less than half of the event’s cost—and efforts to generate other streams of revenue have been unsuccessful.

“In the past we’ve tried to charge admission, but we’d only get 5,000-6,000 people because, obviously, people can just stand outside [the Sports Complex] and see it clearly,” LaFountain says. “Last year we made the event free and about 9,000 people showed. We were hoping to make more money on parking and concessions, but it really didn’t happen.”

When asked about the future of Salinas fireworks shows, LaFountain says, “We’ll keep looking for sponsors for next year. But if we can’t find enough sponsors, I don’t see how anything’s going to change. [The Rodeo Association] has so many expenses to maintain this 80-acre complex. We have to pick and choose our events carefully.”

Meanwhile, Monterey’s event will include a parade down Alvarado Street on the morning of July 4 and a party on the lawn of Colton Hall from 11am to 5pm. At dusk, fireworks will be launched from a barge in the middle of Monterey Bay.