Las Vegas Sun

March 18, 2024

Strip fireworks: 7 minutes, 96,000 aerial bursts, $500,000

Las Vegas ready to light fuse on nation’s largest New Year’s Eve pyrotechnic display

Fireworks Setup at Treasure Island

Leila Navidi / Las Vegas Sun

Pyrotechnicians from Fireworks by Grucci, a company based in Long Island, New York, set up the fireworks for New Year’s Eve on the roof of Treasure Island in Las Vegas Wednesday, December 30, 2009.

Fireworks Setup at Treasure Island

Pyrotechnicians Jim Stannard, left, and Carlton Siple from Fireworks by Grucci, a company based in Long Island, New York, put aluminum foil over the fireworks that are part of the finale for New Year's Eve on the roof of Treasure Island in Las Vegas Wednesday, December 30, 2009. Launch slideshow »

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The Black Eyed Peas won’t be the only ones bringing some “Boom Boom Pow” to the Las Vegas Strip on New Year’s Eve. So will Fireworks by Grucci.

The 315,000 expected visitors to the Strip will be watching the largest fireworks show in the country at midnight, while the Black Eyed Peas perform at the Luxor.

Felix J. Grucci Jr., executive vice president and CFO of New York-based Fireworks by Grucci, said his favorite part of the fireworks show is immediately after the finale.

“You can hear the din of the crowd coming up,” Grucci said on Wednesday. “That’s the fun part.”

The celebration on the Strip, dubbed America’s Party, is presented by Las Vegas Events, a not-for-profit special events agency funded by hotel room taxes. This year’s fireworks cost $500,000.

The New Year’s show, which will last 7 minutes, 11 seconds, will feature about 96,000 aerial bursts launched from the rooftops of seven casinos along the Strip.

The casinos are the MGM Grand, Planet Hollywood, Aria, Caesars Palace, Treasure Island, The Venetian and the 1,149-foot Stratosphere, which is being rigged with fireworks to look like a giant pinwheel.

Downtown, the Fremont Street Experience party will feature TributePalooza, a collection of classic rock acts, and a separate fireworks show.

Nearly a year of planning goes into the New Year’s fireworks show on the Strip. Designers begin choreographing the display in late spring, Grucci said.

Sixty-five pyrotechnicians have been setting up the fireworks since Sunday, he said.

On the roof of Treasure Island, where Grucci surveyed part of his crew on Wednesday afternoon, between 12,000 and 14,000 fireworks have been prepared for launch.

Anthony Magno, who works for Fireworks by Grucci, will be monitoring the fireworks at Treasure Island.

“For the purposes of safety, we want to make sure everything is angled properly,” Magno said. “For safety, we spare no cost, no time.”

Michael Mack, a spokesman for Las Vegas Events, said wind is the biggest concern for the show, but the weather is not expected to be a problem.

Grucci will be watching the show from the roof of the Rio, where he’ll be able to see the entire Strip and monitor the event.

This will be the sixth time Grucci has been hired for Las Vegas’ New Year’s fireworks display.

The company also puts on Las Vegas’ Fourth of July shows and engineered the fireworks display for the opening of Aria at CityCenter.

Grucci is putting on at least nine other shows across the U.S. and around the world for New Year’s Eve, including shows in Sacramento, Calif.; Palm Beach, Fla.; Dublin, Ireland; and Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

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