Behind-the-scenes of Wilmington’s annual 4th of July fireworks display

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Each July 4th, thousands of people make their way to downtown Wilmington to watch the city’s fireworks display.

While the show only lasts around 20 minutes, Pyro Shows crew leader Samuel Boshears says it takes a lot of hard work from a few dedicated people to set up all of the fireworks to make the event possible.

“Usually it takes about two 16 hour days,” Boshears said. “If you have a very experienced crew, which this year we do have, we can actually have it built in one.”

Boshears says racks of mortars made of fiberglass are constructed first on the barge, with the shells being dropped in last. Most firework shells are already strung together, but the largest ones are individually packaged.

Each rack of fireworks is launched using a different switch on a board, with 125 switches being used for this year’s show.

“We actually have a sheet which has a time on it,” Boshears explained. “You just basically follow the time code and every time it tells you, you hit a switch.”

Boshears says safety is their top priority, and using an electronic switcher allows them to be nowhere near the explosives. That’s important, especially when lots of fireworks are launching at the same time towards the end of the show.

“Our company is known for having very large finales. So at the very end you get a lot of light and a lot of noise,” Boshears said.

Although Boshears has been setting up fireworks shows for years, he says the 4th of July show in Wilmington is always a ‘blast’.

“It’s always just a joy to come here and put it together and put on a great show for everyone,” Boshears said.

Boating traffic on the Cape Fear River will be shut down leading up to the fireworks show.