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 4^th 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	200g	25	12
Amazing	Fountain	120	4
Apollo	500g	N/A	4
Chaos Theory	500g	20	2
Drain Bamaged	200g	20	12
Echo in the Ear 5″	Artillery	N/A	72
Escape Velocity	500g	25	2
Ringing in The NewYear	500g	20	4
Heavy Ordnance	Artillery	N/A	72
Two If by Sea	500g	40	4
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:

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!