Portales fireworks show canceled

The Roosevelt County Chamber of Commerce has announced it has been forced to cancel the 2022 Fourth of July Portales Fireworks Show.

Karl Terry, executive director of the chamber, wrote in a news release J&M Displays, the vendor that has produced and fired the show for more than a decade, in March announced it would be unable to produce the Portales show on July 4.

Terry said the chamber, which contracts, coordinates and fund-raises for the event each year, searched to find another vendor or option without success.

“The short notice, coupled with worker shortages and a backlog of shipping from China where most fireworks are produced made it impossible to obtain a vendor,” said Terry. “We called dozens of companies and individuals across the country to no avail. It breaks my heart that we won’t be able to provide a show in Portales this year.”

According to Terry, general terms have been reached with another company for a five-year contract starting with the 2023 holiday. He hopes to have that completed and approved by the chamber board in a few weeks

Terry said while funds didn’t factor into this year’s cancellation, the chamber had been notified that pricing on fireworks was going up by 20 percent this year.

Chamber members with a dues plan that utilizes an automatic fireworks donation will still have that donation applied to the Fireworks Fund in 2022 for the 2023 show.