Are fireworks an approved Scouting activity?

Thinking of ringing in the New Year or celebrating the Fourth of July by setting off some fireworks with your Boy Scout troop or Venturing crew?

Think again.

Unless you and your Scouts are watching a show conducted by a “certified or licensed fireworks control expert,” these dangerous explosives have no place in Scouting.

Click here to read the relevant section in the Guide to Safe Scouting. Here’s the important part:

Fireworks secured, used, or displayed in conjunction with program and activities is unauthorized except where the fireworks display is conducted under the auspices of a certified or licensed fireworks control expert.

In other words:

  • Watching fireworks set off by pros at the 2013 National Scout Jamboree? Awesome.
  • Watching fireworks set off by the guys in the Rattlesnake Patrol at your troop’s winter camp? Prohibited.

Easy enough. By the way, it’s also against policy to sell fireworks as part of a money-earning operation. Stick to popcorn, wreaths, and other items that don’t have the potential to singe your eyebrows.

And while we’re on the subject of dangerous explosives, don’t forget that units are not permitted to use cannons or other large-bore artillery devices. So leave the howitzer at home.


BSA File Photo, 2010 jamboree


About Bryan Wendell 3282 Articles
Bryan Wendell, an Eagle Scout, is the founder of Bryan on Scouting and a contributing writer.