When it came to planning a fireworks show for the Fourth of July, Nederland leaders wanted something to distinguish themselves amid the hype.
They held it on June 30.
Call it Colorado’s earliest Fourth of July show?
“It was a matter of when we could get someone” to run the fireworks show, said Christi Icenogle, Nederland’s town clerk. “Although (the early date) was not our intention, I think it did help our event.”
Hey, in a holiday sky crowded with things going boom, any little distinguishing edge helps. Perhaps that’s why the promotion for some of the shows is more bombastic than the fireworks.
Of the dozens of Independence Day fireworks displays this year in Colorado, at least five have identified themselves in promotional material in some way as the biggest or the largest. Several others have purported to be the best, the grandest, the most spectacular – whatever it takes to get people to pay attention to the displays, which can cost anywhere from a few thousand dollars to nearly $100,000 to produce.
Take the Colorado Rockies: “The best and biggest in town.”
Or the Colorado Rapids: “Colorado’s biggest celebration of America’s birthday.”
Or the city of Aurora: “The largest fireworks display in the metro area.”
“I guess it’s just a matter of pride,” said Beverly Snyder, the president of Denver’s Stonebraker Fireworks Co., which is producing about 20 displays.
The truth behind the advertising? It depends on what your definition of “big” is.
Aurora lays claim to having the largest display based on the pounds of fireworks involved, spokeswoman Kim Stuart said.
“The sky is never dark during those 22 minutes,” she said.
For the Rockies, being the biggest means not just a sizable crowd – the game preceding the display is a sellout of more than 50,000 fans – but also a fury of explosions.
“I think people will tell you that the intensity is the best,” team spokesman Jay Alves said.
And for the Rapids, the show is a plethora of purported superlatives.
The display is an extra-long 30 minutes. The display’s site – at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City – means the show is free of the noise and time restrictions that rein in other shows, said Kieran Cain, the Rapids’ senior director of marketing and entertainment. Even the fireworks shells will be bigger – 6 inches, compared with the typical 4 inches, Cain said.
“We want to be the ones who can say we’re putting on the best show,” Cain said.
But is bigger better? Stonebraker Fireworks’ Snyder doesn’t think so.
“I think the best show is the show that’s in your own community,” she said.
It’s close. It’s cozy. It’s neighbors sharing picnic blankets.
“I really think that’s the best way to promote a display, not all of this bigger, better, more shells,” Snyder said. “It’s a community spirit that distinguishes one show from another.”
Staff writer John Ingold can be reached at 720-929-0898 or jingold@denverpost.com.
