Burn ban cancels Grasshoppers, Dash opening weekend fireworks shows

A statewide burn ban wiped out the postgame fireworks that usually help launch opening weekend for the Greensboro Grasshoppers and Winston-Salem Dash, stripping two Piedmont Triad ballparks of one of their biggest crowd-pleasers.

The cancellations hit Friday and Saturday nights and landed just as fans were expecting the full opening-weekend experience in Greensboro and Winston-Salem. Instead, both clubs pulled the fireworks out of the schedule because of dry conditions and the fire danger behind the state restriction. The show will return only when the ban is lifted and it is safe to resume pyrotechnics.

The N.C. Forest Service put the statewide ban on all open burning in place at 6 p.m. Saturday, March 28, and canceled all burning permits statewide until further notice. The restriction covers all 100 North Carolina counties. State officials said drought severity, forecast fire weather and limited rainfall forced the move as part of an effort to cut down the number of new fire starts. The ban stays in place until significant rainfall and better conditions reduce the wildfire risk enough for restrictions to end.

The risk has not gone away. The N.C. Forest Service wildfire situation report for April 9 showed preliminary reports of 43 wildfires burning 51.5 acres across North Carolina that day. North Carolina’s Department of Environmental Quality says open burning is regulated by state law and includes more than trash fires, and campfires or recreational fires can also become a problem when burning has been banned in an area.

For Greensboro, the immediate impact is more than a missing finale after the game. Fireworks nights are part of the entertainment package that helps draw families to the ballpark, and when they disappear, opening weekend loses one of its most visible attractions. The same dry conditions could also reach into other spring traditions across Guilford County and the Piedmont Triad, especially events that depend on outdoor flames or celebratory pyrotechnics. For now, the message from state officials and the teams is the same: the fireworks will wait until the weather does.