Final Preparations Underway For Inner Harbor New Year's Eve Fireworks Display
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- For more than 40 years, Baltimore has welcomed the new year with fireworks at the Inner Harbor. It's no small task: it takes weeks of planning and construction before the first fuse is lit.
The harbor provides a natural amphitheater where the sizzling sky reflects upon the still waters below.
Pyrotechnician Aaron Troutman spent Monday morning filling a barge in the water with things that blow up -- way up.
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"It's going to be right up in your face; you're going to feel it in your chest," he said.
Workers spent the day before the celebration fighting the damp, fog and rain, trying to protect the $36,000 worth of fireworks. Sponsors help make the event possible.
"It's a great celebration," said Santiago Nocera with the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts. "It's a tradition and people really look forward to it and we look forward to it."
The big boom starts exactly at midnight, with a special broadcast beginning at 11 on WJZ. Event organizers didn't want to spoil anything but said if you think it's over, it may not actually be over.