How one man started Inverkeithing firework display off his own back

The impressive display took place at the town’s Ballast Bank Community Centre and was organised by a team of volunteers.

Andrew Young started the annual display during the Covid lockdown and hasn’t looked back. He said: “There was nothing for the local kids to do at that point and nobody could go out, so I went and bought a lot of fireworks.

“I set them off in the central park in Inverkeithing so that everybody could watch from their gardens.

“It just continued the next year, and the council contacted me to ask if we’d like to make it official by going through a licensing programme.

“That’s what we did, and every year we just want to make it bigger and better. This year we also had the shows, food, bars and stuff like that.”

1,2,3, lift-off! (Image: David Wardle) Mr Young invested a significant amount of his own money to make the event a success. He said: “The first couple of years were completely financed by us. Last year we did some fundraising and I paid about £1200 to give it a good boost.

“We sold light-up toys at that event and put all the profit into this year. This time we got some fees from the showmen and food vendors, so it’s cost me about £600. With the way it’s going, we think that by next year it’ll be fully self-sufficient.

“I don’t mind paying, the crowds and the families running around having fun is worth every penny, put it that way.

Looking very official. (Image: David Wardle)

“It was just to give the local community something, because we really have nothing. Some local kids don’t get to go anywhere and it’s just a shame really.”

Mr Young worked on the event with the local Community Council, who handled aspects such as gaining permission to use the location.

He said: “I can’t take all the credit because so many people put hard work in. We had 20 volunteers, who took the time to help on the night.

“There’s lots and lots of hoops to jump through to get it signed off, and we had to deal with a lot of negatives from people in the community, which is inevitable because you’ll never please everybody.

(Image: David Wardle) “Road closures were also a bit of a nightmare to get done. It’s a lot of time more than anything.”

The event was undoubtedly made more attractive by the fact that Dunfermline hasn't hosted an official fireworks display since 2018. Previously the annual event in Pittencrieff Park had been extremely popular, but financial constraints led to it being cancelled.

Mr Young said: “If Dunfermline had kept their display, you wouldn’t have all these little ones popping up nearby. It’s very different in Inverkeithing having a whole community together in the one place.”

Going on to back Council David Barratt’s call for a county-wide ban on the sale of fireworks for unlicensed displays. He said: "With a public display we have a time and a date, so people have enough warning to make decisions.

“If they have nervous pets and they know the display will be at 7:30pm on a Friday, they can take them somewhere out the way.

The rides were a welcome addition to this year's display. (Image: David Wardle)

“I think organised displays are the way to go, so you’re not just sitting in the house and someone’s launching rockets next door.

“People letting them off at half 11 at night in the middle of a housing estate just cause so much bother. It ruins what we’re trying to achieve with stuff like this, because people get fed up that they just want all fireworks gone.

“Some people want silent fireworks to be used, but they’re just inadequate for a large display because they’re really expensive for what they are. Maybe they should make people use them for home displays and normal ones for public displays.”