ATLANTA — 2024 is less than a day away and celebrations are sure to have popped corks, party favors and fireworks.
Before you let the sparks fly (from the launcher anyway), there are some rules you should know about safely and legally letting off fireworks in Georgia.
According to state law, fireworks can be used any day of the week from 10 a.m. to 11:59 p.m., but on special holidays, like this weekend’s New Year’s Eve, the launch times are extended. While you can shoot fireworks pretty much all day, statutes do leave a carve-out for compliance with any county or municipal ordinances.
For NYE fun, you can fire off the fireworks until 1 a.m. on New Year’s Day.
As for what’s allowed? A lot, but not everything.
You can launch the following types of fireworks, according to Georgia law:
- Firecrackers
- Torpedos
- Skyrockets
- Bombs
- Sparklers
- Any other explosive substance with a visible or audible effect caused by combustion
Georgia law says model rockets and model rocket engines do not count as fireworks.
So, who can buy fireworks, and where can’t you launch them?
You have to be at least 18 years old to buy fireworks in Georgia.
It’s illegal to launch fireworks while under the influence of alcohol or a combination of drugs and alcohol.
You also can’t launch fireworks within 100 yards (that’s 300 feet) away from:
- Electric plant
- Water treatment plant
- Waste-water treatment plant
- Anywhere selling gasoline or combustible liquids
- Anywhere producing, refining, processing, or blending flammable or combustible liquids or gases
- Public or private electric substations
- Jails or prisons
- Boundaries of any public-use air facility or public-use landing platform for use by helicopters
- Any historic site, park, recreational area, or property owned by a governing authority of a county or municipal corporation, or the state of Georgia
- Hospitals, nursing homes, or health care facilities
As we prepare to say goodbye to 2023 there will be no Peach Drop, but you can enjoy ‘Peachfest’ at Underground Atlanta beginning at 8 p.m. tonight. Celebrations start at 6 p.m. at the Battery in Cobb County, and if you feel like hopping in the car, festivities for the annual Possum Drop in Tallapoosa begin at 2 p.m.