“The 4th of July audience does not require much,” notes Fireworks by Grucci CEO Philip Butler, whose Long Island–based family-owned company has spanned five generations. “You can put fireworks of any kind in the sky and they’re happy.” But that hasn’t stopped cities and towns across the nation from pulling out all the stops—and all the cash—when it comes to orchestrating their annual July 4th pyrotechnics displays. The latest in fireworks technology, choreography to live music, spectacular settings, and lengthy shows (20 to 30 minutes of explosions) carrying hefty budgets ($100,000 and up) all contributed to this year’s top Independence Day players, which include New York, Boston and Washington, D.C.
But shows in some smaller towns are also forces to be reckoned with. Kaboom Town! in the Dallas suburb of Addison, Texas, for example, is a well-known spectacular offering a 30-minute display, choreographed to pop music and following an air show; it has a price tag of $220,000 this year. It’s an annual favorite of the American Pyrotechnics Association, says Julie Heckman, especially because, she explains, “I don’t think people would necessarily think of it as being among the top shows.” Though Addison has a population of only 15,000, its spectacle draws half a million spectators from the Dallas region.
To form this year’s list of top fireworks displays in the nation, we weighed the recommendations of the American Pyrotechnics Association, as well as the most elaborate events by some of the country’s biggest fireworks providers (as they noted) including Grucci, Pyro Spectaculars by Souza and Pyro Shows. Getting the list down to 10 was no easy feat, and many cities not on it—including Philadelphia and Atlantic City—deserve major honorable mentions.
“As with most events, it’s not just one component that puts something over the top,” notes Lansden Hill, Jr., CEO of Pyro Shows, based in LaFollette, Tennessee. “It’s the spirit of the holiday, and the venue, or backdrop. The budget of the show certainly has a big bearing, as do the type of fireworks, and how they’re being presented. You can put $100,000 of fireworks into the hands of a lot of people, and all will do something different with them.”
Pyro Shows is behind the display in Washington, D.C.—where, he says, the attraction is “the fact that it’s being shot on the National Mall.”
“The making of a great show is the ambiance,” concurs Jim Souza, CEO of Pyro Spectaculars by Souza, the Rialto-California–based company producing the Macy’s Fourth of July Fireworks, “Ignite the Night,” in New York City. This year’s show, the 36th annual, will use more than 40,000 shells and pyrotechnic effects shot from a total of four barges in the Hudson River and choreographed to a score of pop favorites—plus live performances by Katy Perry and Kenny Chesney. “Macy’s is the grandaddy of them all,” says Heckman.
Also at play this year are a slew of brand-new fireworks shells, discovered by pyrotechnics companies who scour the globe from Europe to China seeking out the best new explosives. “The Macy’s show takes a year in preparation,” says Jim Souza of Pyro Spectaculars, who travels the world for new products, then has them fired in a California testing facility. Among this year’s finds: the Transformer, which has half shells opening in one color followed by another and another and another for a brightly hued, 8-second wow factor. Yet another bursts into the shape of a wagon wheel. A Pyro Shows favorite, meanwhile, is the Big Kamuro, which is a massive exploding gold willow with a long duration, says Lansden. Grucci has its signature Gold Split Comet, which leaves a vividly sparkling trail.
Of course, some cities have cut or drastically reduced their July 4th fireworks displays because of financial constraints—Chicago and Detroit among them. But those that have lowered their budgets are still hoping for big thrills—which, says Heckman, is certainly possible. “Every show is unique,” she says. “Even the smallest community show can be spectacular.”
(courtesy of http://www.forbes.com/sites/bethgreenfield/2012/06/27/top-10-best-july-4th-fireworks-displays/)
“The 4th of July audience does not require much,” notes Fireworks by Grucci CEO Philip Butler, whose Long Island–based family-owned company has spanned five generations. “You can put fireworks of any kind in the sky and they’re happy.” But that hasn’t stopped cities and towns across the nation from pulling out all the stops—and all the cash—when it comes to orchestrating their annual July 4th pyrotechnics displays. The latest in fireworks technology, choreography to live music, spectacular settings, and lengthy shows (20 to 30 minutes of explosions) carrying hefty budgets ($100,000 and up) all contributed to this year’s top Independence Day players, which include New York, Boston and Washington, D.C.
But shows in some smaller towns are also forces to be reckoned with. Kaboom Town! in the Dallas suburb of Addison, Texas, for example, is a well-known spectacular offering a 30-minute display, choreographed to pop music and following an air show; it has a price tag of $220,000 this year. It’s an annual favorite of the American Pyrotechnics Association, says Julie Heckman, especially because, she explains, “I don’t think people would necessarily think of it as being among the top shows.” Though Addison has a population of only 15,000, its spectacle draws half a million spectators from the Dallas region.
To form this year’s list of top fireworks displays in the nation, we weighed the recommendations of the American Pyrotechnics Association, as well as the most elaborate events by some of the country’s biggest fireworks providers (as they noted) including Grucci, Pyro Spectaculars by Souza and Pyro Shows. Getting the list down to 10 was no easy feat, and many cities not on it—including Philadelphia and Atlantic City—deserve major honorable mentions.
“As with most events, it’s not just one component that puts something over the top,” notes Lansden Hill, Jr., CEO of Pyro Shows, based in LaFollette, Tennessee. “It’s the spirit of the holiday, and the venue, or backdrop. The budget of the show certainly has a big bearing, as do the type of fireworks, and how they’re being presented. You can put $100,000 of fireworks into the hands of a lot of people, and all will do something different with them.”
Pyro Shows is behind the display in Washington, D.C.—where, he says, the attraction is “the fact that it’s being shot on the National Mall.”
“The making of a great show is the ambiance,” concurs Jim Souza, CEO of Pyro Spectaculars by Souza, the Rialto-California–based company producing the Macy’s Fourth of July Fireworks, “Ignite the Night,” in New York City. This year’s show, the 36th annual, will use more than 40,000 shells and pyrotechnic effects shot from a total of four barges in the Hudson River and choreographed to a score of pop favorites—plus live performances by Katy Perry and Kenny Chesney. “Macy’s is the grandaddy of them all,” says Heckman.
Also at play this year are a slew of brand-new fireworks shells, discovered by pyrotechnics companies who scour the globe from Europe to China seeking out the best new explosives. “The Macy’s show takes a year in preparation,” says Jim Souza of Pyro Spectaculars, who travels the world for new products, then has them fired in a California testing facility. Among this year’s finds: the Transformer, which has half shells opening in one color followed by another and another and another for a brightly hued, 8-second wow factor. Yet another bursts into the shape of a wagon wheel. A Pyro Shows favorite, meanwhile, is the Big Kamuro, which is a massive exploding gold willow with a long duration, says Lansden. Grucci has its signature Gold Split Comet, which leaves a vividly sparkling trail.
Of course, some cities have cut or drastically reduced their July 4th fireworks displays because of financial constraints—Chicago and Detroit among them. But those that have lowered their budgets are still hoping for big thrills—which, says Heckman, is certainly possible. “Every show is unique,” she says. “Even the smallest community show can be spectacular.”
(courtesy of http://www.forbes.com/sites/bethgreenfield/2012/06/27/top-10-best-july-4th-fireworks-displays/)
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