The key ingredient in fireworks was invented in the ninth century by the Chinese to ward off evil spirits.

The rescheduled fireworks are set to go off at dusk on Sunday, August 20, over Ocean Park in Oak Bluffs.

The fate of the iconic annual August fireworks show in Oak Bluffs is no longer in jeopardy: Summercamp, formerly the Wesley Hotel, has made a three-year financial commitment to the event.

The 40th anniversary of the annual Oak Bluffs fireworks display will be the biggest yet, and may be the last.

Blankets and beach chairs dotted Ocean Park by early afternoon on Friday as fireworks revelers marked their spots for the annual display.

The annual fireworks show returns tonight with promise of a spectacular show, but also increased security.

“There are going to be some noticeable changes to events this year,” police chief Erik Blake informed the town selectmen at a recent annual summer taxpayers meeting.

The show attracts thousands to Ocean Park.

A wedding rehearsal fireworks display will be on full view next week in Edgartown.

The town selectmen this week approved an application for fireworks on June 14 at 9 p.m. from a barge off Fuller street beach.

The application was submitted by the Lobianco family, and the fireworks will be for a wedding rehearsal dinner with 190 people.

The annual fireworks display in Oak Bluffs will continue this August, thanks to a substantial donation from the cable network Black Entertainment Television (BET).

The future of the long-standing Ocean Park show was called into question last October when the Oak Bluffs Firemen’s Civic Association, the sponsor of the event, said it could no longer bear the costs of the show.

For the first time in several years, Island residents looking to welcome the New Year with dancing, champagne and yes, fireworks, need look no further than Edgartown. Hoping to usher in a new tradition along with 2012, the Harbor View Hotel will sponsor a fireworks show over the Edgartown harbor, with attendees at the hotel’s New Year’s Eve party having a prime view of the display.

The Oak Bluffs fireworks display, a cornerstone of Island summer every August, will be cancelled next year unless the town finds a way to continue the show after the town Firemen’s Civic Association voted to end their sponsorship of the event on Sunday.

A press statement released after the vote by civic association president James T. Morse and his fellow officers explained the decision while acknowledging the fireworks’ rich Island legacy.