As preps continue for Monday's Macy Fireworks in NYC, massive show lights up the sky at the Meadowlands on Sunday night
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The Fourth of July fireworks frenzy has begun.
On Sunday night, there was a show at the State Fair Meadowlands, CBS2's Lisa Rozner reported.
People claimed their spots hours earlier. The lights in the sky were choreographed to patriotic music. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, making it the perfect night to see every sizzle and sparkle clearly.
The show was put on by the family-owned pyrotechnics company Garden State Fireworks, which is based in Morris County. They've shows for Walt Disney World, Coney Island, and even the National Mall in Washington D.C.
State Fair Meadowlands took over the parking lot surrounding MetLife stadium, transforming it into a place for fun and fireworks Sunday and Monday.
"I was here last year and it was the best fireworks show I've ever seen," State Fair Meadowlands event coordinator Jackie Tannucilli said. "It's about 15 to 20 minutes. It's a great show. The finale is the best part."
On Manhattan's East River, products were being loaded onto five barges that are in position for the 46th annual Macy's 4th of July Fireworks, which will take place on Monday at approximately 9:25 p.m.
The show designer says to the soundtrack of jazz, salsa and patriotic tunes, 20 different color combinations will light the sky, including pastels like fuchsia, magenta and lime.
"We're going to have over 48,000 aerial shells and effects, I think we're closer to about 60,000," show designer Gary Souza said. "We're going to have a mushroom, a tall hat-shaped firework. We're also going to have a whistling jellyfish and the usual happy face."
And, he added, "howling wolves."
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The barges are positioned between East 32nd and East 42nd Streets on the East River, with prime viewing locations in Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens.
"The ceiling of our fireworks is going to be about 1,000 feet and they're going to have some really majestic long durations of bursts, up to 13 seconds," Macy 4th of July Fireworks executive producer Will Coss said.