Will we soon celebrate New Year’s Eve without crackers?

For some, a fireworks display as spectacular as it gets is as much a part of the New Year as a fondue for the winter. For Roman Huber, the coming weekend means pure stress: “My wife and I will retire to a remote hotel in the early evening with the dogs.” Huber is a member of the Federal People’s Initiative Committee “To Restrict Fireworks.” If the attempt was accepted, my special skill would be banned in the future. There will be exceptions only for events of national importance.

But the initiative needs to happen before a possible vote, and that now seems like a tangible goal: “We’re on track and we’ll have 50,000 signatures by the start of the new year,” says Huber. That’s half of the 100,000 signatures that should be collected by November 2023.
Opponents of fireworks are annoyed by the fine dust and fireworks waste lying around the next day. For them it is clear: fireworks harm nature and harm animals and people who are sensitive to noise. Roman Huber: “Some colleagues give their pets sedative pills or zap the New Year’s TV show at ‘deaf volume’ so the shivering dog next door gets away with it all.” People can also add fireworks. Even before the August 1 celebrations, the Red Cross warned that fireworks could traumatize refugees. According to the Accident Prevention Information Centre, about 200 people are injured by fireworks each year in Switzerland.

Alternatively lasers and drones

But that doesn’t mean that fireworks rivals just want to be spoilers. Animal welfare organizations are resorting to laser, drone shows or water games as alternatives to crackers. Given the energy crisis, these are also likely to cause controversy.

Fireworks have always been a topic of discussion at the local level. In 2020 Davos GR became the first municipality in Switzerland to introduce a legal ban on fireworks. Since then, communities like Arosa GR and Laax GR have followed suit with similar laws. Surveys don’t give Roman Huber’s initiative a bad luck at the national level, as climate awareness is growing among the population.

The initiative committee is anxiously awaiting the upcoming New Year’s Eve. After the corona-related restrictions for the past few years, there was a need to catch up with the fireworks.