Public give their view of firework season

Watch as the public give their view of firework season, with one man likening them to “armaments”.

Transcript

00:00So I think when I was growing up, the O'Gardens was more like, oh, it's excitement and harmless fun, if used correctly.

00:07But I think we've started taking our eye off the ball in terms of it's almost like a six-week-long event now.

00:14More like armament now, aren't they, you know what I mean? Not fireworks now, more like armaments.

00:19You know, you used to get your bangers and your rip-raps and things like that, and that was as far as it went.

00:23Now it's like bombs going off on the road late at night, so no, I'm against them.

00:27And it does harm the pets, so I'm against the way they are now.

00:31If you're a sensible parent, let them off in the garden, or keep your kids away to a certain distance,

00:39and let them off the fireworks and the rockets and all that.

00:42I'm probably more antsy than proud of them now.

00:44If you asked me that 40 years ago, I would have given you a different answer,

00:47but I think there's different reasons behind it now.

00:49There's a place for them, and you'll never stop them.

00:51I don't agree with banning them, but regulation, I think, is the answer.

00:56Definitely organised events, I've been to a few of them, and they're brilliant, and you get just as much for it.

01:00I've had dogs that don't mind them, will go out and watch them,

01:04and I've had dogs that need those things that you wrap them in,

01:08so they're like the blankets to stop them from being scared.

01:11My sister has a dog, and her dog's scared stiff, so obviously she takes the dog away, things like that.

01:16She has a lodge up in the lake, so she goes to a quiet zone.

01:19But for him, he's fine, so I can take him out.

01:21A bit of both, because there is a lot of pets around, and a lot of them are scared of it,

01:26so maybe you should give a warning, or just make sure you're there with your pets when the fireworks are going off.

01:31In a way, I think it's kind of avoidable.

01:33I know someone that's got a little Jack Russell who is terrified of fireworks,

01:36and they go away to the Peak District, because they live in an area where there's a lot of fireworks around this time of year,

01:41so they just book a week away somewhere else, or just stay in a cottage away from all of the noise.

01:48Nah, it's harmless fun. Fireworks are a way of celebrating, you know what I mean?

01:52It's been around for God knows how long, and you know, weddings, birthday parties, celebrations, fireworks,

01:59you know, you blast a few fireworks, everyone's happy, making your videos, you know what I mean?

02:03There's no point, like, it's harmless. You're not harming anyone.

02:07I like fireworks. I miss, I don't think there's one bonfire in the whole of the West Midlands anymore.

02:15I think there's organised firework displays, but there's one by me, Edge Baston,

02:20but I don't think there's, I think the last kind of big bonfire was probably over 10 years ago now.

02:25I used to go to Pike Pays Park, which was a massive one, really, really huge one.

02:30But yeah, I don't mind fireworks. I can't say I have any massive issues with fireworks.

02:35Yeah, I think there's probably less fireworks shops now than I remember when I was 20 years ago.

02:40I remember them on every street corner, but not so much now, to be honest. So I've got no issue with them.