Crews at Reunion Tower in Dallas are finishing the installation of fireworks for Tuesday night's show. The display will start at 11:59 p.m. and include 5,000 fireworks and 259 LED lights.
"We try to one-up ourselves, of course. It's all of our natures," says Reunion Tower President Dusti Groskreutz. "We try to see what we can do new. Is there new technology? Is there a new method?"
Groskreutz says Reunion Tower will be introducing a new firework that "starts as one thing and ends as something else."
"I'm super excited because I haven't even seen it yet. I've only seen an animation of it," she says.
Groskreutz says pyrotechnic and music teams start planning for the New Year's Eve show January 2nd with a ten day review of the previous show.
"It spurs creativity for next year," she says.
Groskreutz says crews work to sync music to the display, choosing songs about fireworks, Dallas or bright lights.
"We break it down into manageable pieces, so we look at what's new in lighting, we look at what's new in pyro," she says. "We also cull through all the songs and look for ones that make sense."
Reunion Tower estimates a million people will watch the show, either from areas nearby or from other parts of the city. In addition to the tower's visibility among a wide area, the display is broadcast on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
This is the ninth year for the show at Reunion Tower. The company, Pyrotecnico, says the show will include effects that create waves around the sphere at the top of the tower.
Reunion Tower says the 5,000 fireworks weigh 15,000 pounds. A team spent 150 hours designing the display and music. The crew spent 1,000 hours building and wiring equipment for the show and then 350 hours installing the fireworks.
Organizers say eight computers will be synchronized to within 1/30th of a second to follow 3,000 cues during the show.
"You just feel like a child watching those fireworks go off, the ball exploding, lights and all the activity. You can hear the 'oohs' and 'aahs' from the city," Groskreutz says. "Every year, it just grows and grows. It's amazing."
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