Onset’s skies won’t be lit by an official fireworks show this Independence Day, but the Blessing of the Fleet and childrens’ parades will be held, and a beach bonfire is in the works.

There will be a fireworks show in Onset, but it will be held in late September as part of a reimagined Harvest Moon festival. 

Onset Bay Association President Kat Jones explained that a Fourth of July fireworks show won’t be possible this year due to staffing issues at the Wareham Police Department.

“These large-scale events are wonderful, but they’re a huge, huge burden on public safety,” Jones said, noting that staffing such events is above and beyond what’s required of the police department — even though the association foots the bill for detail officers.

Due to the increase in summer beach traffic in past years and what seem to be near-universal staff shortages, Jones said the department is unable to safely staff the event. Some residents have suggested that state troopers or even volunteers could fill the staffing gaps, but that’s not possible, either. 

“It’s about public safety,” Jones said. 

Past fireworks events have brought thousands to the tiny village, filling the streets with traffic.

Jones also noted that recent state police reforms have made it harder for tourist towns like Wareham to hire summer reserve officers, as the town has done for years. According to reporting from the Provincetown Independent, a 2020 bill doubled the minimum training required for such officers from 400 to 800 hours — the same amount of training currently required for full-time officers. The legislation aimed to standardize police officer training to ensure that all officers across the state go through the same training before they’re granted powers of arrest, use of a firearm and related responsibilities. Communities can still hire civilian traffic control officers for community events, but the workers would not be able to be certified or granted powers of arrest unless they’ve completed the training — and that’s a different role than previous summer reserve officers filled.

Currently, the town is not advertising any summer police reserve officer jobs. 

Looking ahead, Jones said she’s looking for volunteers to help plan and run planned events, including the April 16 Easter Egg Hunt, the Blessing of the Fleet on July 2, the Summer of Love concert series on Wednesday nights in July and August and the Blues Fest, to be held Aug. 6 at the VFW. 

A Bay View Park clean-up is set for this Saturday, April 2, to prepare the park for the egg hunt.

The Harvest Moon Festival, set for Saturday, Sept. 25, will be a reimagining of the event, which was last held about 25 years ago, Jones said.

There will be an antique car show at the pier, live music, vendors, food trucks and maybe a chowder contest, Jones said, before evening fireworks. 

“It’ll just be a nice wrap-up of the summer,” Jones said. She explained that because the beach traffic and summer population will have mostly left by then, the public safety departments will have adequate staff to make the event safe.

Jones is looking for people who were involved with the original iteration of the festival, she said, and hopes to incorporate some “key pieces” from those events.

For more about the Onset Bay Association events, or to volunteer or donate, go to www.onsetbay.org.