A suburban Chicago village is ready to celebrate Independence Day with what's being called the largest Fourth of July fireworks show in Illinois, and crews began setting up Tuesday to get it all ready.
"I am excited," said Itasca Mayor Jeff Pruyn. "This is one of my most favorite holidays of the year."
Mayor Pruyn said the village started planning in the fall and approved the budget for the show earlier this year. It's believed to be the largest fireworks show in the entire state.
"We spent $110,000, so it's about 5,000 to 6,000 pounds of fireworks that go 800 feet up in the air," he explained. "It's about 1,000 feet wide, is the area where they go off."
The family friendly event helps boost the local economy in DuPage County. The mayor said the number of visitors more than double the village's population.
"The hotels are full these nights," Pruyn said. "We also get about 20 to 30,000 people come in from all around the suburbs."
Crews with Pyrotecnico have been working in the field to get everything loaded and ready for the free show at Hamilton Lakes.
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"They're loading the fireworks in the mortars, and they're connecting the electric initiator to the fire devices itself then plugging it into the firing system that will control the entire show from a safe distance," said Matt Peterson, the director of designs.
Organizers said the production will be filled with new colors, new patterns and new effects.
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"In this show we do have some really good strobes; we have some sunflowers, we have dahlias," said Peterson. "A lot of fireworks shows are named after flowers, by the way. We actually have some ghost shells. The ghost shells when they open, a color will wave from one side of the sphere to the other and back again."
The fireworks will be synchronized to music from pop culture, movies and songs honoring our country. The village is working with Hamilton Partners.
"We try to tug at people's heartstrings," said Richard Staback, partner with Hamilton Partners. "We try to get people emotionally involved with the show, feel the music, feel the show and especially with the patriotic side."
Organizers said they’ll have live music, tasty food from vendors and a new activity zone for kids during the celebration. Admission is free, but parking will cost $25 per vehicle.
"I want them to create a memory, that's why I do what I do," said Peterson. "It has nothing to do with the power that's here. Whether you're with family, a partner, spouse or whatever, to be on a date—I want them to lock in that memory."
The event starts at 4:30 p.m. The fireworks show kicks off at 9:45 p.m. and should last for about 25 minutes.
