Beachwood Fireworks Over The Toms River Return With Important Change For 2025

BEACHWOOD, NJ — For more than 80 years, towns around the Toms River have celebrated the nation's Independence Day with fireworks from the bluffs in Beachwood.

That tradition is continuing for 2025 but with an important change: Instead of holding them on July 4, this year the fireworks display is set for Saturday, July 5, with a rain date of Sunday, July 6.

The Beachwood Borough Council, which handles the process of hiring the fireworks company and associated staffing and logistics around the celebration, chose the new date last summer when it sought bids for the 2025 display.

The council borough hired Pyrotecnico, based in New Castle, Pennsylvania, to put on the 2025 fireworks in a resolution approved in October that is set to pay $32,000 for a 23-minute display. The council meeting minutes from July through October do not reflect any comments on the reason for the date change.

In 2024, the borough hired Garden State Fireworks and was supposed to pay $33,000 for a 23-minute display, but received 18 minutes of fireworks. The borough council paid Garden State Fireworks $25,826.10 for the July 4 show.

The donation-funded annual Fireworks Over The Toms River has taken place every year, with some exceptions, dating back to the 1940s.

The show is the largest display in Ocean County, swelling the population of riverfront towns, drawing thousands to Beachwood, Pine Beach, Ocean Gate and Berkeley Township along with Toms River and Island Heights. Route 9 jams with vehicles, especially later in the afternoon and evening leading up to the show as spectators arrive to vie for the best possible views.

Boaters anchor up in the Toms River as well for a different view of the show.

Beachwood Beach on the river hosts fun for the kids and families before the fireworks, which are set off at dusk. WOBM 92.7 FM provides the music that accompanies the show.

The fireworks have been funded annually by donations going back to the earliest years of the display, as Beachwood continued to host as the other towns on the river stopped holding them due to the costs, including insurance.

The show was not held in 2018 when the vendor failed to deliver the fireworks, and it was not held in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.