Crowds who gathered in Channelside to see the fireworks to celebrate the 241st Independence Day left underwhelmed Tuesday night.
RELATED: | GALLERY | 4th of July fireworks from Channelside
The fireworks at the Channelside Bay Plaza begin as scheduled at 9:00 p.m. but ended within minutes and without a grand finale.
Officials told us it was an equipment failure and that they were looking into the issue.
#BREAKING :organizers believe there was an equipment failure at the #channelside fireworks show. They're looking into it. @abcactionnews
— Marisela Burgos (@MBurgosNews) July 5, 2017
Many took to Twitter to share their frustration:
I was looking forward for the fireworks on Channelside but was very dissapointed...???
— Vanida Krodinger (@vini_kro) July 5, 2017
#channelside #fireworks were just..not that spectacular.. #July4 #disappointing
— CENTRAL VISION (@CV_Music) July 5, 2017
Something definitely went wrong with the fireworks at Channelside, Lots of long gaps probably a total of only five min. of actual fireworks
— Davian Benito (@davianbenito) July 5, 2017
Channelside fireworks waste of my time ?
— James Bond LLM (@ericc_joel) July 5, 2017
Lots of people leaving after a shortened fireworks display at Channelside. No word yet on why there was a delay. pic.twitter.com/M1zdnc25YE
— TasteSeeTampaBay (@TasteSeeTB) July 5, 2017
One man who was overseeing the safety of the fireworks even tweeted a picture of the fireworks that didn't go off.
Look at all those fireworks that DIDN'T go off. #Channelside #tampafireworks #Bust pic.twitter.com/yqAI6XJpsn
— Devon Magill (@D_Magill) July 5, 2017
The Channelside Bay Plaza Marketing and Events Manager did release the following statement:
"We regret that tonight's aerial firework production did not go as intended. A lot of time, effort and hard work go into planning these events. No matter the level of preparation behind the scenes, live events can often be unpredictable. Channelside Bay Plaza has worked closely over the last few years with Pyrotecnico to create multiple quality firework productions. Unfortunately, during tonight's display, Pyrotecnico experienced what they believe to be an equipment failure. They are currently investigating the issue."
