COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX) — Since 1981, Red, White and Boom! has set the Columbus skyline aglow. For 40 of those years, Earl Burke has been at the helm.
We make this a production,” Burke said. “As a production, you want to make sure the shell you see in the sky matches the music at the right sequence so you can get the right pizzaz. People are looking for creativity. Anyone can go shoot shells. But we want this to be a performance and a world class event.”
Wednesday’s forecast called for hot and humid temperatures and a chance for storms. Burke said that the show will go on.
“We plan for the worst,” Burke said. “We will shoot if it is raining. We will not shoot if there is lightning or high winds over 25 mph. One way or another, this show is going into the sky, and everyone is going to have a great time seeing it.”
Burke said some of what people will see on Wednesday night will be unique to Columbus, thanks to their new fireworks supplier, Starfire Corporation.
We want to put the boom back in Boom! like you’ve never seen before,” Burke said. “This finale has a lot of personally made shells for Boom! — it’s supposed to give us a really nice thud in the sky that you will remember. It’s a personal touch for us.”
Burke said this year’s show, which takes over nine months to plan, is 25 minutes long from first launch to finale. It will include nods to the military, Ohio State University, and the Columbus Crew.
Wednesday’s high temperatures were felt by the dozens of food and drink vendors that lined the streets near the Scioto Mile.
It’s hot and everything just wants to melt,” Kristina Stoner said. “In my particular trailer, the heat makes things very tricky. My cotton candy will melt, my apples will melt. You’ve got to keep things cool, so we brought fans with us.”
While Stoner and her team worked to beat the heat all day, they also hoped for severe storms to pass downtown Columbus.
“I am hoping it will blow by us,” Stoner said. “There is so much prep that goes into this, and we put so much time in. So I am hoping the weather stays nice.”
