A behind the scenes look at this year’s Star Spangled Springfield fireworks show

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – For those looking to celebrate Independence Day with a world-class fireworks show, look no further than the city of Springfield.

Don’t let the sheer beauty of this fireworks display fool you, there are a lot of moving parts and people that go into making this event look seamless and flawless every year.

Since 1991, the Spirit of Springfield has made the Fourth of July a day to remember. It’s a night of entertainment and family fun with fireworks displayed from the Memorial Bridge that can be seen for miles.

Judy Matt, President of Spirit of Springfield, told 22News that crews will be working around the clock up until show time, “Come 11 o’clock on the 3rd, the Memorial Bridge is closed and they go up on the Memorial Bridge and they work all night setting everything up so that when people come down, they’ll have a good time and nice show.”

22News caught up with the Fireworks by Grucci team on Tapley Street as they loaded their trailers with motor tubes for the fireworks to go over their preparation process.

“There’s a lot of behind the scenes stuff. Music-wise, queuing everything up with the fireworks and the music, the audience will hear the music and the guy hitting the buttons hears the cues when to fire,” said Chief Pyrotechnic Dave VanBuskirk.

VanBuskirk told 22News that there are some surprises in store for the big day but everyone’s main priority is safety above all else.

“We’ll have extra personnel units down at the river to man our tactical units, which will be carrying medical equipment to assist AMR. We’ll have our UTV down there also, just kind of there as a resource,” said Springfield Fire Captain Drew Piemonte.

The Springfield Police Department will also be detouring traffic in and around the Memorial Bridge and Riverfront Park area.

Starting July 3rd at 11 p.m. the Memorial Bridge will close to all traffic. On July 4th, Exits 5A and 5B on I-91 South and Exit 5 on I-91 North will close around 7 p.m.

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