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Salute to Midnight Fireworks Show

Show Idea: 5-Minute Salute to Midnight

Last updated 1/20/2021. This article has been updated since it was first published to utilize products in our current catalog. As a result, the show video and some photos may show products that are no longer available for sale.

There’s nothing more satisfying than celebrating the New Year with a massive fireworks display at midnight. It’s the one show every year that doesn’t require a long build-up to tease your audience along toward the grand finale – you just skip to the good part and light up the sky as the clock strikes midnight!

Even so, it’s not always as simple as grabbing your July 4th leftovers and lighting everything all at once. We know that many of you are taking that next step into building more elaborate displays, so we want to share a few ideas to help you add some extra finesse to your New Year’s fireworks show.

To that end, we’ve designed a fast-paced, hard-hitting show that uses a large amount of pyrotechnics in a short amount of time. While the primary goal of this show is to be fast and loud, there are still plenty of great effects and lots of colors to give the show plenty of pyrotechnic beauty while leaving a lasting impression on your New Year’s Eve party guests.

The Fireworks

Below are the suggested fireworks for this show, but feel free to make it your own by substituting some of your favorites. You can also reach out to us if you need help with ideas. For your convenience, we’ve also created a Salute to Midnight product category on our wholesale website so you can start shopping right away. You’ll need one case of each item:

 

Firework Type Duration
(Seconds)
Case Qty
Space Race
Space Race
200g 25 12
Amazing
Amazing
Fountain 120 4
Apollo | The Great American Fireworks Co.
Apollo
500g N/A 4
Chaos Theory
Chaos Theory
500g 20 2
Drain Bamaged
Drain Bamaged
200g 20 12
Echo in the Ear 5 inch
Echo in the Ear 5″
Artillery N/A 72
Escape Velocity
Escape Velocity
500g 25 2
Ringing in the New Year
Ringing in The NewYear
500g 20 4
Heavy Ordnance
Heavy Ordnance
Artillery N/A 72
Two If By Sea
Two If by Sea
500g 40 4
Whacky Tobacky
Whacky Tobacky
Rack 20 2

The Amazing fountains provide ground-level and lower-sky entertainment. They will run throughout the entire show except for the last 30 seconds as the finale is taking place and all eyes will be high in the sky anyway. These are very powerful fountains, so be sure to secure them to prevent them from tipping over while firing.

The 60-gram canister shells from Heavy Ordnance will provide additional noise as the shells thump out of their mortars and explode high into the sky with massive breaks. The other 60-gram canister shells from Echo in the Ear will be used as the backbone of the finale to pound the sky with loud, huge breaks.

Note that using this many artillery shells requires mortar racks, so you can set these up in advance with your preferred firing method. Whatever method you choose, be sure that all mortars are secured against tipping over when firing. If you are unsure about this, we recommend leaving them out of the show or substituting additional repeaters or finale racks.

The 200-gram repeaters Space Race and Drain Bamaged will give the show a consistent theme and fill the middle sky throughout the show while the various 500-gram repeaters give a unique flair to the higher sky. These fireworks provide the bulk of the show run time. When firing multiple repeaters, we recommend using an electrical firing system or multiple people to hand light the fuses. Be sure to secure the repeaters to prevent them from tipping over while firing.

The Setup

Firing Station Layout

This show requires two primary firing stations, ideally spaced about 50 feet apart, with a third firing station for the finale between the two primary firing stations. Below is a simple diagram of the firing station layout:

Firing Station Setup

Show Rundown

You will notice that, for the most part, Station 1 and Station 3 are mirror images of each other. That is, whatever is being fired at Station 1 is also being fired at Station 3. Firing the same firework at the same time compounds the effects of the firework and is a technique used by professional shows. We switch this up a little toward the end to break this pattern up.

Event Station 1 Station 2 Station 3 Start Time Duration
(Seconds)
End Time
1 Amazing Amazing 0:00 120 2:00
2 6 Heavy Ordnance shells 6 Heavy Ordnance shells 0:10 3 0:13
3 Ringing In The New Year
Space Race
Ringing In The New Year
Space Race
0:13 20 0:33
4 6 Heavy Ordnance shells 6 Heavy Ordnance shells 0:33 3 0:36
5 Two If by Sea
Drain Bamaged
Two If by Sea
Drain Bamaged
0:36 40 1:16
6 6 Heavy Ordnance shells 6 Heavy Ordnance shells 1:16 3 1:19
7 Apollo 7
2 Space Races
Apollo 8
2 Space Races
1:19 30 1:49
8 6 Heavy Ordnance shells 6 Heavy Ordnance shells 1:49 3 1:52
9 Amazing Amazing 1:52 120 3:52
10 Escape Velocity
Drain Bamaged
Space Race
Escape Velocity
Drain Bamaged
Space Race
1:52 25 2:17
11 6 Heavy Ordnance shells 6 Heavy Ordnance shells 2:17 3 2:20
12 Apollo 11
2 Drain Bamaged
Ringing In The New Year
2 Space Races
2:20 20 2:40
13 6 Heavy Ordnance shells 6 Heavy Ordnance shells 2:40 3 2:43
14 Galaxy Buster
2 Drain Bamaged
Apollo 13
2 Space Races
2:43 30 3:13
5 Two If by Sea
Drain Bamaged
Two If by Sea
Drain Bamaged
3:13 40 3:53
16 18 Echo In The Ear 5″ shells
Whacky Tobacky
Chaos Theory
36 Echo In The Ear 5″ shells 18 Echo In The Ear 5″ shells
Whacky Tobacky
Chaos Theory
3:53 20 4:13

The Celebration


With a little planning and setup, you will be ready to celebrate the New Year with an incredible midnight fireworks display! To help you shop our show ideas, you can find the products for a given show on our Fireworks Show Ideas page. We hope you enjoy the show and share your own ideas in the comments. Be sure to get plenty of photos and video and tag #mysuperiorfireworks to share your show with us!

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8 Responses to Show Idea: 5-Minute Salute to Midnight

  1. Daniel Robertson December 3, 2018 at 11:18 am #

    Great information provided here. Set off my first timed show this past July 4th. Did not realize the difficulty in timing for a show so showing how it’s done will provide much relief for those willing to take on such an project. I’m already in the planning stages for July ’19. More planning and prep time = better show, every time.

    • Jason Rickard December 5, 2018 at 12:18 pm #

      Thank you, Daniel. As you have discovered, once you start planning shows, it takes more time to figure it all out than to shoot the actual show! Timing is always tricky. You will get better with experience, but since fireworks are handmade there is always some margin of error due to variations in fuse burn times and even product composition.

  2. Jackson Dean January 17, 2018 at 7:08 pm #

    Please do more of these show ideas! It really helps when choosing products for shows. Also if you could include a video of the show that would send it over the edge.

    Is there another blog where I can find these show ideas?

    • Superior Fireworks January 29, 2018 at 10:46 am #

      Thanks, Jackson! We absolutely plan to do more posts like this and will include video as much as we can. We don’t know of anyone else providing these types of show ideas quite like this, so we hope to be a great resource for you moving forward.

  3. Tony December 27, 2017 at 6:42 pm #

    Total # of mortars?

    • Superior Fireworks December 27, 2017 at 7:47 pm #

      We’ve proposed 1 case of Echo in the Ear, which has 72 shells, plus 1 case of Heavy Ordnance, which also has 72 shells, bringing you to 144 total. Plus the 1202 other aerial breaks from the repeaters!

  4. Tony December 27, 2017 at 6:41 pm #

    Price for this kit please

    • Superior Fireworks December 27, 2017 at 7:23 pm #

      If you purchase each item listed here through our wholesale website, your total would be $1,003.17 before shipping and taxes, if applicable. Of course, you’re also free to customize the show line-up for your own preferences, which would affect the total cost.

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