MONTHS IN THE MAKING
Tonight’s Red, White & Boom the culmination of long process
First thing’s first when it comes to designing the annual fireworks display for Red, White & Boom, and that means selecting ... the music.
The music comes first and is just as important as the fireworks, said Earl Burke, fireworks site manager for the More on July Fourth, including safety tips, B5
nonprofit organization that puts on the show.
“Not all songs are built for fireworks,” Burke said. Fast songs allow for more fireworks, he said, but music that is too fast for too long means the aftermath of some songs could fill the air with smoke, obstructing the view of the show.
“That’s why we set the sound to break, go to a slower pace, and come back,” he said.
As he has since 2010, DJ Brian R. Detoto, of Detoto Entertainment, worked with Burke to produce the custom music mix for this year’s display, which is scheduled to begin at 10 p.m. Wednesday.
“It takes probably 3 months (to) 3 months just to get the soundtrack right,” Burke said, noting at one point that “it’s just like a big roller coaster.”
Much like putting together the city’s annual largest single-day event.
“We’re trying to make over a million people (including TV viewers) happy in 30 minutes, which is a great thing,” said Shawn Verhoff, co-executive director of the event. “But man, there’s a lot of late evenings when you’re like, “Oh! Did I remember (to do something)?”
For Verhoff and coexecutive director Brandon Crowe, both of Bexley-based Elmwood Consulting LLC, the display is actually the conclusion of an 18-month process that starts with finding the money to pull it off.
Red, White & Boom is a nonprofit group, and 82% of the event’s nearly $700,000 annual budget comes from corporate sponsorships from such supporters as Pepsi, Motorists Insurance Group and local radio station WNCI (97.9 FM). The smallest chunk comes from government funding — a combined $55,000 (about 8% of the total costs) in grant money.
“If you polled people in Columbus and asked them who pays for Red, White & Boom, they would say the city,” Verhoff said.
Boom received $25,000 from the Columbus Recreation and Parks Department, according to Jason Nicholson, the department’s special events coordinator. The nonprofit receives an annual $35,000 grant from Franklin County, said Robin Dever, spokeswoman for Franklin County Board of Commissioners.
The remaining 10% comes from revenue Boom gets from public purchases of food and drink and other vendors. The nonprofit’s share of that revenue tends to be small, however, because Verhoff said most attendees don’t spend money at Red, White & Boom because they’ve come for a “free” show.
Besides courting sponsors, organizers are engaged in constant conversations with city officials about zoning and permits and the mechanics of the event. That includes ensuring the show lives up to expectations by scouting events in other cities to keep up with fireworks technology.
About nine months before Boom, Burke is given a budget to oversee the design and execution of the show.
Once the music mix is done, Burke works with Ralph Piacquadio, designer at New Castle, Pa.-based Pyrotecnico, to design the look and feel of the show.
Shells can contain rockets, smaller shells and a host of ingredients.
“One shell could have 30 effects and 30 different colors,” Burke said. “You can do anything with a shell.”
The set-up for the show begins in Genoa Park along the Scioto in front of COSI. It takes Burke and his 12-member crew more than 500 man-hours just to stage
the fireworks by placing the shells into cylindrical tubes organized in a rectangular grid, called a rack.
The shells are fitted with electronics that allow computers to trigger the launch. During Boom, WNCI will send “silent tones” synced up to its music broadcast to the Boom computers that tell them when and what type of shells to launch.
Safety is a concern, of course, and the purchase, transportation, storage and use of the commercial-grade shells are tightly regulated and subject to frequent inspections from federal, state and local authorities, Burke said.
When staging highly explosive material, you’d better get it right, Burke said. “You’ve got to know what you’re doing and pay attention because one slipup, that’s all she wrote.”
Burke keeps the vast majority of the details of the fireworks show secret because he doesn’t want to ruin the surprise.
“This year, we got a couple of new things on the show,” Burke said, including a new introduction and a tribute to first responders.
After the show is over, workers will spend about 12 hours tearing down structures, removing miles of water and electrical lines and picking up trash.
Verhoff estimates more than 10,000 people annually have a hand in Boom.
“It’s Columbus’ signature event,” Verhoff said. “There’s shots of Red, White & Boom at the airport. They show up in press releases. They show up in Downtown building windows. They show up everywhere.
“It’s pretty cool to see our images everywhere.”