New Year in Hawke’s Bay - do we really need the fireworks?

Let's sing and dance our way into 2023. Photo / Getty Images

OPINION:

Tomorrow, the countdown to the end of the year begins.

December is a stressful month for many, and this year that struggle has gone way up the Richter scale thanks to food prices and interest rate hikes.

It’s been one hell of a year for lots of people, with lockdowns and sickness thrown into the mix.

So many of us will be thinking, ‘I can’t wait to see the back of 2022′.

Actually, I’m pretty sure I said that last year as well.

New Year’s Eve is celebrated in many countries, including New Zealand, with dancing, singing, eating and, unfortunately, lighting fireworks.

I was really happy to see that Napier’s New Year’s Eve celebration is making a comeback back this year. Fantastic.

Linda Hall is assistant editor at Hawke's Bay Today. Photo / Warren Buckland.

We could all do with a bit of celebrating with family and friends. But do we really need the fireworks?

Fireworks have never been part of any New Year’s Eve party or celebration I went to, whether as a child with extended family or as an adult.

As a child, we would get together with the cousins while the adults did what adults do.

At midnight, if you were still awake, we sang ‘Auld Lang Syne’ in a big circle with our arms crossed, walking in and out of the circle and raising our arms.

We don’t need fireworks.

Have your Guy Fawke’s night — let off your fireworks. But then please stop.

Trouble is, fireworks have been going off ever since November 5.

I saw a post on Facebook just the other day that said: ”Please enough with the fireworks already. Animals just freak out. Please stop.”

On Guy Fawke’s Night, animal owners are prepared. But they can’t possibly prepare for night after night of it.

Then, just when things start to quiet down, boom — and I mean boom — the sky is going to be lit up and dogs will be doing laps around the house, not just once on December 31, but twice - once at 9.45 and again at midnight.

I’ve seen the way ponies shudder when they hear a bang, even when it’s a long way off.

Animals have had a bit of a hard time lately. Thunderstorms with claps of thunder have made me jump and do a lap around the house.

Enough of the stress of that banging, already.

I’m sure there are loads of charities out there that would be grateful to have the money used to buy the fireworks for public displays — think SPCA, Riding for the Disabled, the Salvation Army. The list goes on.

Let’s make a song and dance about the New Year and sparkle our way into an animal-friendly 2023 with just one night of fireworks on November 5.

* Linda Hall is assistant editor of Hawke’s Bay Today.