Crews putting final touches on Dallas Reunion Tower New Year's Eve fireworks show
DALLAS - In Dallas, Reunion Tower is putting final touches on its fireworks and drone show to ring in the new year.
Those in charge of the event spoke with FOX 4 about what people can expect from this year's show.
There will be lights, drones, and fireworks in the 8th year Reunion Tower has held its New Year’s Eve fireworks show.
The set-up team said they’ve worked especially hard on this year’s finale.
The skies are clear and quiet Saturday, but at 11:59 p.m. Sunday, they will be filled with color and sound at the iconic Lone Star New Year’s Eve at Reunion Tower.
"We’re in the tens of thousands of pounds. That includes fireworks, mounts, miles and miles of cable. It’s an enormous amount of gear that goes into creating a show of this size," said Matt Peterson, who is behind the technical aspects of the show. "Every year we get better with our products. We get better with our choreography and the collaboration with both the drones and the lights that are on the exterior of the ball."
Dallas Reunion Tower fireworks show: Crews prepare for New Year's Eve celebration
Organizers say this year's New Year's Eve fireworks and drone show at Reunion Tower will be the biggest and best yet. Here's what you need to know.
The show will have not only fireworks, but a record of 500 drones. There will also be a light show to coincide with the fireworks.
"Building on the previous 100 years of music over New Year’s Eve. We created visuals for the drones. We started with that and we built the fireworks and the light on the ball on that," Peterson.
Peterson shared his favorite part of the show.
"One of the neatest smallest elements of whole show, we have a segment as we go into the 80s and 90s is the Pac-Man sound where the lights on the ball will be a Pac-Man and the drones will be the ghost as the Pac-Man is trying to chomp the ghosts," he said.
What part could weather play in the show?
Peterson said a 10 mile per hour wind clears smoke, but if things get too windy, there may be a delay.
"In terms of weather, the weather looks pretty good, could be a little windy. For this style of show, it doesn’t impact us a whole lot, except higher winds will affect the products when they launch and ignite from the tower," he explained.
Gregg Elkin, director of business development and communications at Reunion Tower, said if people can see the ball at Reunion Tower, they’re in a good spot to see the show.
"The best place to see it is if you can see the ball from anywhere around Downtown Dallas, you can see it," he said.
There will be 15,000 pounds of fireworks, in addition to 250 million light shows on the ball, paying an homage to previous decades, starting from the 1920s.
"Really, the key components are the vendors, the fireworks folks, the drones, the light show," Elkin said. "Coming up with a theme this year, it’s a look back at New Year’s Eve through the decades, through the 1920s until today."
Elkin said they’re not going to overcrowd the skies during the finale because it’s too much for viewers to take in.
"I think what we have this year for the finale, drones leading into the fireworks, not to give everything away, is really going to be spectacular for everybody along with the light show," he added.