I could see them and still didn't think they were very good. Nothing seemed choreographed, just random pieces shot here and there. Not good at all. Also, it was wayyyyy too crowded. I think the booths needed to be spread out across more blocks or something. I don't know if having the event downtown was worth the mess it made. There weren't officers directing traffic or protecting crosswalks afterwards, either. It was chaos.

You couldn't even see them from the Boylan Bridge! Boo! A lot of disappointed people.

I was on Davie and Fayetteville, you could only see smoke. And they didn't last more than 15 minutes.

I couldn't see the fire works nor my friends (From a different vantage point) ... My children came home very disappointed about the fireworks display.... This was definitely the worse year in my 20 years in Raleigh. .. Doing a twitter search, It seems like everyone in DT Raleigh was disappointed and the other locations (Cary, Brier creek, wake forest) all had better firework display then our capital city...

the fireworks displays reminds me why Charlotte should be the capital.
Isn't Raleigh on the top 10 fastest growing cities??

-Wral Viewer

The downtown fireworks display was a huge disappointment. Please take the comments constructively. I honestly could have bought mortars down in South Carolina which would have been more spectacular.

My Family and I arrived around 7:00 and there was no parking. Went into the civic center parking deck and was stuck for an hour only to find out they had over sold spaces and everyone had to make a u-turn and exit. I saw no police directing traffic although it was a nightmare. This event was so poorly planned and executed it was pitiful. It is the last time they will get me in that mess again. What was wrong with the fair grounds that event always went much better. Another example of Government at work.

Not even the tv cameras had a decent view of the fireworks. New Year's Eve in downtown was fun, but the Independence Day celebration was disappointing on all levels.

I have been to the fireworks in downtown Norfolk VA where they shoot them from across the waterfront. In Norfolk, they have a plan to get all the decks emptied and out in an orderly fashion. Decks next to each other are emptied into different streets which are all monitored by the police and/or traffic control.
It was a debacle last night. It made a terrible show even worse.

We have numerous events throughout the year promoting the downtown area & vendors (First Friday is every month). Raleigh could continue to have a 4th celebration downtown but it is not the area for fireworks. There is a reason most cities & towns have them in areas with a wide viewpoint. A total dissapointment and hopefully they will return to their place at the fairgrounds 2013.

I usually defend downtown as much as I can, but those fireworks were some of the worst I have ever seen. Please put them back at the fairgrounds. I live downtown, and that was embarrassing. I supprised a riot didn't break out after everybody realized how low the fireworks were going to be.

The fireworks display in Raleigh was very disappointing. I was on Fayetteville Street south of Davie and could barely see them! They were so low it looked like they were just high enough to clear the buildings. My other issue is that it only lasted about 15 minutes! I’m sure the smaller towns around the area had longer displays. Raleigh is supposed to be one of the best cities to live in but with this event it’s now the worst to see fireworks on the 4th. I think you get better fireworks if you go to a Durham Bull’s game. I've lived in Raleigh for 26 years and thought the fireworks at the fairgrounds were great. You could see them for miles around so if it was too crowded to get up close you could watch from a distance and get the full effect. If this is the New Tradition for the 4th I will have my own new tradition by skipping it. Raleigh Fireworks Downtown = FAIL!

From what I am hearing from other photographers, the choice to have the fireworks downtown was a less than optimum choice. Many are saying the fireworks were too low and also were smaller due to the size of the tubes used due to the height restrictions. Sounds like the fairgrounds is the better choice.

It was great to see the number of people going downtown however the 4th is about Fireworks and the display last night was poor at best. The firework show was like something you could do in your back yard and not a high grade production.

The fireworks didn't even go high enough for people at the other end of the street to see very well. In fact they didn't go Up much higher than the hotel next to it. Firework shows like at the fairgrounds with them going high into the air make much more of an impact and is what a real Firework show should be. Very obvious last nights show was disappointing and a let down for all,the people who attended.

Were there any really good viewing locations? Add them to the Triangle Wiki:

https://trianglewiki.org/Raleigh_Fireworks_for_the_4th_of_July

I did not have any trouble seeing them from the intersection of Fayetteville and Davie. I agree that many of the fireworks were too low to the ground and the show should have lasted longer. I also did not have any problems with traffic. From my parking space to home took less than 10 minutes.

We had high hopes for this, but were so disappointed. It was a great idea, but there were so many people that it was hard to walk around or see anything on Fayetteville Street. We went to the top of the parking garage on Cabarrus and Salisbury and were able to see MAYBE 1/2 of the fireworks. The rest were too low and blocked by the Marriott building. We were SURE the fireworks would shoot high in the sky (at the fairgrounds you can see them from blocks away). But not last night. It was pretty much a bust. I think the celebration downtown may still be a great idea, but not the fireworks.

We've heard a lot of this kind of feedback on the fireworks last night. They were an unfortunate victim of our economic situation but hopefully next year with the learning we're doing this year it will be a lot better display, and the unloading of the parking decks will work a lot better. We had a bigger crowd than anyone anticipated...this is good, but again another learning opportunity. Thanks, everyone for your honest feedback. We are going to be working hard to get this right next year!

Next year? The only way you can get it right next year is to have it at the Fairgrounds, where it worked right from the beginning!

I think the city answered this adequately. I'll be happy to attend this event downtown again next year.

I heard that in the drenching rains earlier in the evening, the fireworks got damp. Other than the taxes, we pay; it was basically a FREE EVENT. Plus it was the first time it was held downtown. So I say, Not Bad. Thanks Raleigh.

Major failure on crowd control. Low angle of the fireworks meant that there were very few viewing locations that offered an unobstructed view. Many of the best spots were roped off by police tape, pinning people behind buildings that blocked the show. When the show started and 70% of the crowd realized they couldn't see a thing, people rushed to pack into the few tiny areas from which they could peer around corners and maybe -- just barely -- see the show. Worse, it took my family over an HOUR to exit the McLaurin parking garage at Cabarrus and McDowell. Apparently they (police? McLaurin staff?) blocked the Cabarrus exit, and forced people to use the Davie St. exit, which was predictably gridlocked because it's one a one way street that points back downtown. I got all the way home to Holly Springs in about 15 mins once I got out of the garage, but how can it take an hour to empty a medium-sized parking garage? I really like the idea of bringing life (and business) downtown, but Raleigh needs to completely rethink its approach to crowd control. Not sure if I'll go back unless I see Raleigh admit it screwed up and has concrete plans to do better.

The Works was the pits & the fireworks an utter disgrace.

I heard no patriotic music in the 5 hours there. It was instead a parade of riff raff & drunks pushing their way thru families & over anyone (even seniors & wheelchairs) that stood in their way. The feeble fireworks were marred by rude parents who never learned not to obstruct someone's view when lifting a child on your shoulders. Is this what Raleigh has devolved into? Raleigh-You are a Capital City: Please act like one ! Raleigh should take a clue from neighboring Garner’s July 3rd event. It’s a truly fun & relaxing evening with country, beach & jazz music in the afternoon; then impressive fireworks accompanied by patriotic strains from the NC symphony. Next year skip the crass self-indulgent display called The Works & go somewhere that knows how to cerebrate the day -like Washington DC- or Garner NC

I must say this year’s fireworks were a total disgrace. My son and I were at the State Capital building and were barely able to see them, everyone around us complained. Traffic was a mess, nothing but a huge bottleneck as those who just wanted to see the fireworks made their way downtown around 9pm. This so needs move back to the fairgrounds as I will not try this again.

The city has decided that paying rent to use the State Fairgrounds is not the best use of the limited funds they have to hold the 4th of July Celebration. So, unless you want there to be no 4th of July Fireworks, you may want to give them a chance to improve upon this years downtown event before demanding that it return to the fairgrounds..

Rude people and crappy fireworks.