PEORIA, Ill. – Choose Greater Peoria Red, White and Boom is just about a month away.
Midwest Communications’ Mike Wild says there’ve been concerns raised about how tariffs on China might affect this year’s fireworks show.
He tells WMBD’s “Greg and Dan” costs have gone up a bit, not because of tariffs, but because costs have gone up for Pyrotechnico, the company that shoots off the fireworks on the Illinois River.
“They will stock up on a lot of the display stuff years in advance, and what they do is go out each year and buy new product,” Wild says.
New special effects and colors are always a part of Red, White and Boom each year.
Wild says we’ll have to wait and see how President Trump’s tariffs will affect next year’s fireworks show.
Greater Peoria Red, White and Boom is the biggest show of its kind in Illinois, and has been for years.
Wild says Itasca, outside Chicago, claims they’ve got the biggest fireworks show in the state, but he knows the truth.
“They have come pretty close to us, but they haven’t beat us, and the reason I know they haven’t beat us, is because the same guys that shoot our show, also shoot their show,” Wild says.
Wild says it can be hard to measure who actually has the biggest show.
“Do you measure by the people in attendance at the show? Do you measure it by the duration of the show? Do you measure it by shell count? Do you measure by the intensity of the Grand Finale? I think the easier way is by dollars spent, but you could combine all of those things,” Wild says.
Roughly 170,000 people are expected on the Peoria and East Peoria riverfronts for this year’s Red, White and Boom this July 4th.
To learn more about Greater Peoria Red, White and Boom, click HERE.
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