Residents opposed to the Marina del Rey fireworks are set to gather at the Marina del Rey jetty at 10:30 AM on Friday, July 3rd, 2026, to demand that the county cancel the show before it launches over the same area at 9 PM on Saturday, July 4th, 2026.
The protest makes the dispute immediate because the fireworks are now one day away, and the residents say they are not asking for a review or a delay. They want Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly Mitchell and the Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors in Marina del Rey to stop the display outright, while also pressing Meghan Hertel to move the county away from fireworks shows in the area.
Christina Ku, one of the residents organizing the push, said baby birds have fallen from nests at the first fireworks blasts and that many do not survive even when they are taken to wildlife rescue centers. She and others say the planned show threatens wildlife nesting in the adjacent Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve and the Endangered Bird Habitat for the California Least Tern, where the article says the fireworks overlap with active nesting seasons for the California Least Tern, Belding’s Savannah Sparrow, Least Bell’s Vireo and the nearby Western Snowy Plover.
The conflict did not begin this week. On June 22nd, concerned citizens protested outside the Los Angeles County Supervisor’s Offices in downtown Los Angeles and asked Supervisor Mitchell to stop the Marina del Rey fireworks. Jessalyn Waldron came out and told them, “We hear you,” but residents say that answer has not changed the need for immediate cancellation. They also say the fireworks represent predictable violations of the California Endangered Species Act, a claim sharpened by the posted signs warning residents not to let dogs onto the beach between April 15th and September 30th because the area sits near the protected bird habitat.
Jane Velez-Mitchell, who has been involved in the pushback, said, “These fireworks are like dropping a bomb on ground zero for Southern California wildlife,” capturing the anger that has built since last July’s fireworks prompted UnchainedTV to hold an Emergency Town Hall. What remains unresolved is simple: whether county officials will act before Saturday night, or whether residents will again be left protesting a fireworks show they believe should never be allowed to happen there at all.
