Behind the boom: What Gillett Bridge looks like before the GR fireworks show

Packed onto two trailers like sardines and scattered around the bridge, the fireworks were ready to go up in sparkles and smoke: 8,000 shells in less than 30 minutes.

On Saturday, a small team rigged the Gillett Bridge in downtown Grand Rapids ahead of the city's fireworks show, an annual display put together by Riverbank Events and Media and its partners, including Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort, its title sponsor.

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"Everything has to be planned very accordingly," said Russ Hines, the CEO of Riverbank Events and Media. "We don't want people to get tired. We want to be known as the best show in West Michigan and we put a lot of time and effort in order to make that happen."

The fireworks show, though designed by humans, is run by a series of computers on the bridge that communicate with a central computer on the riverbank.

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Through complex sets of wiring, the computers sense when fireworks have been set off and trigger others to be launched in a planned sequence.

"If everything goes exactly according to the game plan, then yes, it would be with one start to the button and then we're off to the races," Hines said.

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By mid-afternoon at nearby Ah-Nab-Awen Park, familes had already marked their territory with blankets, wanting to secure prime positioning for the show.

"I enjoy walking around and looking at the kids and seeing the smiles on their faces," Hines said. "To me, that's where it really pays everything off."

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The Grand Rapids fireworks show will begin promptly at 10:30pm with live music at Ah-Nab-Awen Park starting at 6:00pm. Pets, glass bottles, bikes, scooters and personal fireworks are not allowed at the park, Blue Bridge, and the bridges at Pearl Street, Bridge Street, Sixth Street.

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