Mr. Whelan's Fireworks

! ..! Sky Wars ticket sales for our Sky Wars 16th annual fireworks championship start now! We guarantee it will be a light and sound explo...sion you won’t soon forget! Visit www.skywarsevent.com today for this limited offer while supplies last. You better hurry before this second round of tickets (our first round sold out in just a teeny bit over 36 hours) goes bye bye bye! #skywarsevent

: Question: Do the pyros put on other shows during the year?... Answer: We asked Tim Jameson, owner of Innovative Pyrotechnic Concepts (IPC) and Pyro Dudes Fireworks, for the answer to your question. In a typical year, IPC produces more than 40 displays for municipalities, corporate groups, and private individuals during the Fourth of July week alone. We also produce summer productions for amusement parks including 60 at Busch Gardens and six at Sesame Place, as well as minor league baseball clubs, concert venues, specialty festivals and more. Even though IPC stays busy with these jobs, we really look forward to events like Sky Wars because it gives us the opportunity to ‘go crazy’ with our show design and product usagebut it also brings special challenges and logistical issuesthe setups involve many more ‘single shot’ items than a typical display and very high shell counts over many different firing locations; the product prepping for such a large display; and the logistics of transporting both the product and equipment over much longer distances than we typically would do at our ‘home base.’ Our recent Sky Wars large display required a 53' semi-trailer to transport the equipment and product. The logistics aloneof transporting display fireworks almost 1,000 miles across the country when the vehicle cannot stop anywhere along the way except for refueling purposesis a challenge in itself. Couple this with sharing the site with so many other displays, including a 500 gallon super-nuke. Pulling off such a display at an event like Sky Wars is a testament to the dedication of each and every company, pyrotechnician and staff member since it is so unlike your typical fireworks event."

: ' & Question: What’s the most heart-pumping thing that’s ever happened at one of your shows?... Answer: When you mix fireworks and fun, you’re bound to make some pretty interesting memories Here’s a tale from Brian Thiemann, one of Sky Wars’ organizers. This happened at our third event when we were called St. Louis Shoot. We held our show on private property (no public spectators allowed back then, but we had pyros from all over the country.) Our hostwho said all of his neighbors liked fireworks except one (I’ll call him ‘Ned’)alerted his neighbors about the upcoming show. Most were really excited to see a whole bunch of pyros do their thingexcept Ned. At some point during the night, we heard ‘Fire! Fire!’ We saw an unmistakable glow in the driveway of (you guessed it) Ned’s house! The fire grew bigger. The flames grew higher. That’s when a few guys grabbed fire extinguishers from the field and made a beeline across the property; however, the show’s host and a couple other guys ran up the drive, out to the street, and down to Ned’s. And very soon it became clear why the host went the long way. Picture this: Guys carrying 20-pound fire extinguishersrunning full speed aheadsmack dab into a barbed wire fence! Can you see it? Shredded clothing. Ripped flesh. And yet no one had the sense to simply let the extinguishers go. Imagine the momentum that literally cartwheeled them over the heavy-duty metal fence. What a sight! The best (or worst) part: The fire was coming from under the hood of a car parked in Ned’s drivewaymaking it just an ill-timed coincidence that had absolutely nothing to do with our fireworks. Ned’s daughter had just arrived home after buying a car that had a fuel leak. She had no clue and went inside, parking the car just a few feet from the garage. Luckily we were there that night to save Ned’s home from extensive damage. It was the last time we held our event there because we outgrew that space. The next year was the first time we held our show at Springdale Park & Pool and invited the public to attend.

. ? ( !) Tell your friends. Tell your family. Tell your Fed Ex delivery person. Tell the lady in the grocery store check-...out line. The second round of our 9.25.21 Sky Wars tickets go on sale at 8 a.m. on 1.21.21 (we picked that date because, hey, it’s a cool palindromeit reads the same backwards and forwards!) 1. They’ll sell out fast! (Our first roundliterally thousands of Black Friday and Early Bird ticketssold out in a little over 36 hours.) 2. They won’t last long! (This round of tickets is limited and only while supplies last.) 3. Seriously, do you really need a third reason? Sky Wars tickets make the perfect Valentine’s Day gift. Our fireworks championship oozes fiery fun, creating a sweet date night or a totally flaming family experience with your loved ones. Psst. Don’t forget to purchase tickets at www.skywarsevent.com on 1.21.21. Here’s to making some red-hot memories in 2021!

: ... ! Question: How much space do you actually need to set off those really big fireworks?... Answer: Missouri Pyrotechnics Association (MOpyro) recently featured plenty of 12 inch shells at our Sky Wars fireworks competitionalthough, in the past, we have shot some as big as 16 inches. Fireworks safety guidelines require MOpyro to have 70 feet per inch of shell so that’s 840 feet of distance to the audience for a 12 inch shell. We exceed that number and use 100 feet per inch of shell, making it 1,200 feet of distance between our fireworks shooting area and our pyro-loving crowd, We also have a fallout zonethink of this as a circle around where our large shells are shotthat must be totally clear of unauthorized people and occupied buildings during our show. Basically it is 1,200 feet in every direction, which is an area of 4.52 million square feet or 104 acres in space. Safety is crucial in a fireworks championship, particularly one the size of Sky Wars. For all your questions that need to be answered, email Dear MOpyro at [email protected].

Here’s our first story featuring a longtime Sky Wars fan. We’d love to highlight your experience (c’mon, you know you wanna share those memora...ble moments with us!) Email your story with photos to [email protected]. Thanks for sharing! ' Back in September 2012, I had only been dating my boyfriend, Michael, for a few weeks. He invited me to some firework show at Springdale pool called Pyromania that I had never heard about. I thought it was just going to be a regular firework show, but boy was I wrong! The Fireball Dudes really sold it for me! I had never seen anything like it before! My boyfriend and I have been together for 8 years now and we’ve never missed a show! We’ve followed you to all the different locations you’ve been to, from Springdale to Brookdale Farms, to CLC (the one who shall not be named lol) and now at Innsbrook. Now that you are further away from our home, we make a huge deal about renting a hotel room and getting the VIP passes so we can really enjoy what your show has to offer! We are huge fans of you guys and all the hard work that goes into putting on an amazing show for us! [photos of our first Pyromania show plus our recent Sky Wars experience]

Just a sample of the inaugural SKY WARS out at Innsbrook. It was a pyro art spectacle like no other. Go to mopyro.org for next years tickets.

Just a sampler from last weekends inaugural "SKY WARS" (formally pyromania) out at Innsbrook. Great new venue. And hands down the greatest fireworks spectacle ever. 7500 attended. Check mopyro.org for tickets to next year's show.

The Missouri Pyrotechnics Association is extremely pleased to announce thatin our legal case against Cedar Lake Cellarsthe judge has ruled for the second time... in our favor. What that means to us: The path to Sky Wars is now clear! And, as the original creators of Pyromania, we could not be more delighted. What that means to you, our supporters: We will see you on September 26 at The Village of Innsbrook Fireworks Field! #skywarsstrong