Lighting your own fireworks on New Year’s Eve: Banned in Anchorage, OK in Mat-Su and City of Kenai

Alaskans looking forward to a holiday dark enough to allow fireworks to be seen as well as heard, take note: There are just a few places in Southcentral Alaska to legally set off pyrotechnics this weekend.

Personal fireworks are legal for a brief period on Sunday evening — New Year’s Eve — in Mat-Su and the City of Kenai.

Everywhere else in the region, including Anchorage, bans the use of personal fireworks during the holiday. There is a fine of up to $300 in Anchorage for using personal fireworks, including sparklers and bottle rockets.

Large fireworks displays for public viewing are scheduled on New Year’s Eve in Anchorage, Eagle River, Girdwood and Wasilla, along with Seward and Homer, a crowdfunded effort, on the Kenai Peninsula.

[Here are a dozen ways to celebrate New Year’s in Anchorage and beyond]

Personal fireworks will be allowed in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough from 6 p.m. Sunday until 1 a.m. Monday. In Palmer, personal fireworks use can begin at 9 p.m. Sunday. Fireworks are normally prohibited throughout the borough for most of the year otherwise.

The Gorilla Fireworks stands, located just inside Houston city limits along the Parks Highway, are the only place to buy legal fireworks in the region.

Fireworks are also legal within the City of Kenai on Sunday and Monday, as long as the person using them is over 18 and on their own property or has consent from the property owner.

Mat-Su officials recommend people using personal fireworks follow safety protocols, including having a sober adult present; never pointing or throwing fireworks at a person or animal; and following the directions on the label.