The fourth of July is always a bit hectic in my family. Our friends own a local firework company that does firework shows. The fourth of July is super busy for them, so they need extra people to help with city firework shows. A few years ago my family offered to go and do our first firework show, and since then we generally do a fourth of July show for them. This year we were asked to take care of a small show in a resort town. It was awesome. Here are some behind the scenes shots of a firework show (Though I really don’t know any of the technical lingo, so bear with me!)
First you have to set up all of the pipes which will hold the firework shells. This part is pretty boring, so there are no pictures.
Mom and dad dropping in the shells
Me and mom putting tape over the top (an easy way to make sure the shell has gone off without sticking your face over the pipe!)
Ready to roll!
This year we did a really small show. This is what it looks like when it is all set up. Its about a three hour set up, a 10-15 minute show, and then an hour clean up. And thats for a small show! My brother Karl, and SIL Liz were in charge of a HUGE show about an hour away. They spent far more time setting up than we did - but it looked like it was so cool! The fun part about doing a small show is that you light the fireworks by hand. You use flares, and 2-3 people take turns lighting the fireworks, this time my dad and I lit the fireworks and my mom kept everything under control and lit the finale.
Playing with fire. So cool! (Dad in background, I'm up front)
Lighting them off!
My family all agrees that we have gotten spoiled. The very best place to watch a firework show is from directly underneath it, one of the fun benefits of lighting a show! The finale is all prepared, so you just light one fuse and the whole thing goes off. At that point you can sit back and enjoy the show. It's so awesome!
It's a lot of work, but it's also lots of fun! note to self - remember ear plugs next time!
2 comments:
You really got some good pictures of you guys lighting off the show. So cool!!!
I found your blog and I agree, the best place to see fireworks is when they are directly overhead. Last year, my family and I were on a train trip from Salinas, CA to Sacramento. While going through Oakland, the Oakland A's Stadium set off a fireworks show and we traveled right underneath it. I love fireworks too and that was the best ever.
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