In the half-hour leading up to show time, I have some devices to shoot to entertain the kids, and to use to get the crowd ready for the main event.

I purchased some smoke cakes, which will look nice against the twilight sky, and a couple of parachute cakes which will give the children something to chase and collect. I've made sure that these parachutes do not come back to earth with anything hot attached to them, which could injure the kids.

I'm also going to launch some Sky Lanterns at dusk. These take a few minutes to launch and fly away, and the crowd always gets quiet and enjoys watching them float out of sight.

Launching Sky Lanterns Electrically

This proved to be more challenging than it sounds. Several of us have been working on methods to accomplish the electrical ignition and launching of Sky Lanterns.

The method I'm currently using involves priming 3 inches of a 4-inch piece of American Visco with the following prime:

1 ounce of black powder "green mix," which consists of 0.75 ounce of potassium nitrate, 0.15 ounce of airfloat charcoal, and 0.10 ounce of sulfur, all mixed by screening through a 40 mesh screen several times.
0.2 ounce of titanium or magnalium, somewhere around 100 mesh
1.3 ounces of PVC glue (Thanks to John Miller for the idea of using PVC glue in items like this.)

I put all of this into a paper cup and stir it thoroughly to create a slurry, into which I dip 3 inches of each piece of Visco fuse. I then let these primed pieces dry for a day or so.

To electrically fire the Visco, I tape a one inch piece of Fast Fuse (Skylighter #GN1205) into the end of an ematch, and then tape the Fast Fuse to the Visco.

Visco, Primed and Ready to be Electrically Fired

Now I take a small, round cosmetics pad (stolen from my wife, Molly) and smear a very thin layer of petroleum jelly on both sides of it. This pad is placed on the top of the Sky Lantern burner (the fuel pad)--that is, the side of the burner facing the inside of the lantern.

I tie a piece of string around the midpoint of the Visco fuse priming, and tie the fuse to the top of the jellied-pad, with the string going around the lantern burner. This string-tie keeps the fuse from coming loose from its position if the lantern moves in a breeze, or when the igniter fires.

Fusing the Sky Lantern Fuel Pad

To erect the Sky Lantern in the field, ready to be fired, I stick a rounded-top pole into the ground. This stick is just long enough to hold the Sky Lantern fully stretched out with the bottom hoop just resting on the ground. The rounded top of the pole helps prevent it from tearing through the fragile tissue paper.

The lantern is now ready to be ignited and sent aloft electrically.

I have also recently used only the primed Visco fuse stuck between the layers of the burner assembly. This has worked consistently for lighting the burner, but it takes a bit longer for it to really get burning. There is room for more R&D in this process.

Sky Lantern Launching Pole and Ready to be Launched Electrically

The Script and Layout of the Main Show

Now that the pre-show festivities have been covered, it's time to move on to the main show. I've intentionally kept this show simple, small in size, economical, and employing only relatively small and quiet devices.

I have also edited a simple soundtrack to be played on a boom box in front of the small crowd of family and friends during the show.

I've actually laid out on the ground the various fireworks devices that will be in the show. I've organized them in a line in the order I want to fire them, starting with some slow, smaller items, working through some smaller cakes, firing a waterfall and set piece, shooting some comets and rockets, displaying a consumer wheel and the hand-made cone-fountain Chromatrope, then some 500 gram cakes, and ending with some chained artillery shells, a firecracker tree, firecracker wall, and some large Cremora pots.

There is a lot of variety in this lineup. Small and large items, low and high items, slow and fast-paced items, lots of different kinds of devices, building up to the bigger stuff, and then a loud and impressive finale.

Laying this lineup out on paper, I've overlapped quite a few of the items' display durations by 5 seconds to avoid dark sky except in the few instances where I want that dark sky to display rockets against.

The show script then looks like this:

Timing	Firework	Music
5,4,3,2,1,	Fire
	(Start stopwatches at "Fire")
00:02	Strobing fountains	Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again"
00:30	Mine
00:33	Mine
00:37	Mine
00:43	Comet
01:00	Line of cone fountains
01:16	Comet
01:20	Purple Ball cake	"Are You Ready for This?"
01:45	Excellent Trip cakes	Disco/Upbeat music
02:10	Squealing Pig cakes
02:40	Photo Flash cake
03:05	Going in Circles cakes
03:50	3 fanned comets fire
03:55	Waterfall	"O Mio Babbino Caro"
04:15	Star Set Piece
04:28	3 Comets fire
04:32	Rocket Volley fires
04:45	PyroWheel lights	Lion King's "Circle of Life"
05:03	Chromatrope lights
05:35	My Favorite Martian cake
05:55	Horsetail Barrage	"Somewhere Over the Rainbow"
06:15	Gold Lightning
06:50	Timed-chain shell rack
07:05	Quick-chained shell rack	Golden Earring "Radar Love"
07:10	Firecracker Tree
08:55	Firecracker Wall
10:00	Five-Gallon Cremora pot
10:05	Five-Gallon Cremora pot
10:10	2 Five-Gallon Cremora pots

As I lay the devices out, and wire them to the firing system, I'll make a note of the firing cue number to the left of the firing time so that I know which cue to fire at that time.

Note: Since I'm igniting the existing Visco fuse on the various devices after clipping off a bit of it, I'm "pre-firing," by two seconds, comets, mines, and other devices that I want to shoot at a particular time. This gives the Visco a couple of seconds to burn before the device is supposed to display.

Soundtrack

With this firing script nailed down, I can assemble and edit the soundtrack using my Sound Forge editing software. I always start a manually-fired soundtrack with a countdown, 5,4,3,2,1, ending with "Fire", which is where I start the timers by which I fire the show.

Sketch of the Layout

I've drawn up a rough sketch of the layout of the show, as shown in Fireworks Tips #103. This shows my safe distances to the crowd, and the layout of the firing system and scab wire, too.

What I Will Need for the Show

Now, in order to keep it simple in my head, I envision the show, one step and device at a time, starting with the pre-show items, and create a checklist of all the items I'll need to set everything up and fire it all. This is especially important if I'll be shooting the show at a remote location.

Checklist

table, chairs, pop-up-tent shelter
food and drink
CD player/batteries, 2 copies of soundtrack CD
3 copies of paper firing script
3 copies of layout sketch
caution tape and posts to use to erect a safety barrier
firing system (fully charged or with new batteries)
electric matches
scab wire
stopwatches
battery tester/multimeter
propane torch
fire extinguisher, garden sprayer (filled)
flashlight, headlamps
first aid kit
sunscreen
bug spray
sunglasses
sledge-hammers
screw gun
screws
roll of iron wire
tool box, hand tools
spikes for strain relieving wires
kraft paper to use to make "chain buckets"
Elmer's glue
Sky Lanterns, launching poles, ignition supplies
concrete blocks, bricks
wooden stakes
rebar stakes
ready boxes for reloading shells
duct tape, masking tape, aluminum foil tape
plastic garbage bags, aluminum foil, tarps, rain protection
quickmatch
string
All of the fireworks product (Duh!!)
rocket launching tubes
camera
step-ladder
fence-posts, fence-post driver, fence-post puller
mortar racks, loose individual mortars
wood blocks
lumber to erect waterfall, cracker tree and wall, wheels, set piece
Cremora buckets, Cremora, black powder, napkins
measuring scoops, weighing scale

Preparation of Fireworks Devices

Before the day of the show, I prep the various devices that will be in the display. I install paper or aluminum-foil-tape buckets on all devices that will be chained together. I load and chain-fuse the shells that will be shot from mortar racks. I also have pre-assembled the Chromatrope. See Fireworks Tips #105 for details.

I equip the cakes and other devices with ematches and quickmatch or Fast Fuse passfires.

Installing Electric Match in Quickmatch, and Ematch Pigtail onto Device's Visco Fuse

I assemble the set piece. My buddy Jeremiah Smith, winner of the Best Consumer Fireworks Show competition at the National Fireworks Association convention in 2007, developed and shared this method of using large Ground Bloom Flowers to create a Consumer Fireworks set-piece.

Star Set-Piece Using Ground Bloom Flowers and Fast-Visco Fusing

I sketch each support apparatus that will be used for the waterfall, wheels, and firecracker wall and tree, and I make a list of lumber that I'll need for it all.

The firecracker tree has been pre-assembled using two, 8000-firecracker rolls.

Assembling and Erecting the Firecracker Tree

The Day of the Show

So, now it's time to load the truck and head out to the shoot site. Fortunately my Lovely Assistant was able to take the day off to help me out there.

Rebar pins, wood stakes, or large barn spikes come in handy for erecting strobes, fountains, cakes, etc. I use quickmatch to connect all the strobes or fountains in a line.

Quickmatching a Strobe Line, and Anchoring Cakes with Barn Spikes

I assemble and erect the cone-fountain waterfall.

Cone-Fountain Waterfall

Then the rocket rack and firecracker wall go up.

Chain Fused Rockets in Rack, and Firecracker Wall

Everything else is set up and wired to the firing system, with each firing circuit checked with the multimeter. See Fireworks Tips #104 for details on wiring and firing systems.

The Complete Show Set-Up

If I was shooting this show on a paved parking lot, I'd assemble self-supporting frames for each device, and I'd support the fountains and cakes with concrete blocks and bricks. Naturally I don't use this method for anything powerful which might blow up and send pieces of brick flying toward the crowd.

Supporting Devices with Concrete Blocks or Bricks

Naturally, many of these details will vary from show to show, from site to site, and from device to device, but hopefully all of this information will serve to whet your creativity and imagination.

Post-Show Notes

I brought some leaf rakes to the site the next day to clean up as much of the paper debris as possible. I thoroughly checked the site in the daylight for any dud devices or live product.

Thinking back on the show, the best crowd reaction came when the Chromatrope functioned, when the star set-piece lit and when the cracker-wall did its thing, and, of course, when the 4 Cremora pots shot their hot fireballs into the air.

For a simple, 10 minute "backyard display," the audience really enjoyed it and offered grateful responses. It's always fun to see families, folks, and children get together, romp around tossing Frisbees and baseballs until dark, and then sit around a fire and enjoy a little fireworks show.

It makes the hours and hours of work that go into the show worth it.

Have Fun, Stay Green, and Have a Happy Fourth of July,

Until next time, Enjoy!

Ned

To learn more about setting up a Fourth of July fireworks show read these articles:

"Consumer Fireworks Display: Mortar Racks, Fusing Techniques"
"Planning a Consumer Fireworks Display"
"How to Make Consumer Fireworks Festival Balls More Interesting"
"Wiring Devices and Firing Systems in a Consumer Fireworks Display"