4 | GREENVILLE JOURNAL | 07.03.2015 | NEWS
Lighting up the sky Upstate fireworks displays this Independence Day weekend KAYLA WILES | CONTRIBUTOR
kwiles@communityjournals.com GREENVILLE Wells Fargo Red, White & Blue Festival July 4, 5-10 p.m. Downtown Greenville Fireworks at 9:45 p.m. Free • greenvillesc.gov
SLATER-MARIETTA Slater-Marietta Moon Boom July 3, 6-10 p.m. Slater Hall and Jimi Turner Park 210 Baker Circle, Marietta Free • mariettasmiles.org
EASLEY Celebrate America July 3-4, 2-10 p.m. both days Downtown Easley Fireworks on July 4 after dark Free • easleyevents.com
PICKENS 4th of July Celebration at Pickens Amphitheater July 4, 7-10 p.m. Pickens amphitheater 114 W. Main St., Pickens Free • visitpickenscounty.com
SPARTANBURG Red, White and Boom July 4, 6-10 p.m. Barnet Park, Downtown Spartanburg Food and beverages available for purchase $5 • cityofspartanburg.org
ANDERSON 4th of July Celebration by the Homeland Park Fire Department July 4, 10 a.m.-11 p.m. 3299 S. Main St., Anderson Fireworks at 9:30 p.m. bit.ly/homeland-fourth
SENECA 4th of July Celebration in Seneca July 4, 5 p.m. Gignilliat Field Fireworks following concerts Free • seneca.sc.us
If your kids don’t like fireworks… GREENVILLE Red, White & Blue Day at The Children’s Museum of the Upstate July 4, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. 300 College St., Greenville Wear red, white and blue to receive $2 off admission Free to members • tcmupstate.org
Big bang theories Over in minutes, months of planning go into Fourth of July fireworks CINDY LANDRUM | STAFF
clandrum@communityjournals.com It takes months of planning to elicit the “oohs” and “aahs” that will come during Saturday’s fireworks display during Greenville’s Wells Fargo Red, White and Blue Festival. Pyro Shows of Lafollette, Tenn., began working on the Greenville display two or three months ago, said James Woods, the company’s director of administrative operations. While the company worked to secure the necessary city and state permits, a team of show scripters worked to put a pyrotechnic show to the music that will be simulcast on radio station WESC.
GAFFNEY Celebration of Freedom Activities at Cowpens National Battlefield July 4, 9:45 a.m. – 4:15 p.m. Hourly Battlefield tours until 2:45 p.m. Scavenger Hunt from noon – 3 p.m. Free • nps.gov/cowp
PHOTOS BY CAROL STEWART
Sales of consumer fireworks could exceed $725 million in revenue this year.
Professionals from Pyrotecnico of Saluda, S.C., set up fireworks for the Fluor Enterprises July 4 celebration last Saturday.
The scripters decide patterns and colors that will go best with the military branch songs and patriotic songs from Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA” to Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.” “We use a lot of old faithfuls,” Woods said. The company’s fulltime sound designer listens to find new compositions and new versions of patriotic songs, looking for 20-second to 30-second snippets that could be incorporated into future displays. Of course, most shows involve the 1812 Overture, he said. “You can’t have a good finale without it.” The colors produced by each shell depend on the types of metal-based compounds they contain. Titanium and aluminum burn white, strontium and lithium burn red and copper burns blue. The sound of fireworks comes from using different elements, too.
Once the show scripters know what patterns and colors they want to accompany the music, the shells are back-timed so they are detonated at the appropriate time to explode at their “high point” and at the right time musically. “We don’t like dead sky,” Woods said. Greenville’s show will involve around 1,000 pounds of explosives. A two-man crew will begin setting up at 7 a.m. on Saturday, Woods said. After the police and fire departments secure the launch area (Woods and city officials didn’t want to disclose the location for security reasons), the workers will arrange and load the mortar tubes, contained in narrow wooden crates called racks, and connect the fuses and wiring. Woods said Nashville, Tenn.’s show, billed the largest fire-
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