Behind the Scenes: Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks Preparations

On Monday morning, 60 licensed pyrotechnicians from around the country gathered along the shores of New York Harbor to rig a series of barges with explosives. More than 80,000 shells carefully arranged by the crew this week will detonate in a few days for the nation’s largest fireworks display, Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks^®.

The spectacular annual show will return to the East River this year, after launching from the Hudson River in 2024. Roughly a mile-long stretch of four barges will serve as launchpads for 50,000 shells, while an additional 30,000 effects will rocket off the Brooklyn Bridge. And this year's show doesn't only contain fireworks.

For the first time, the Independence Day display will make use of hi-tech projection mapping technology to cover the towers of the Brooklyn Bridge in animations timed to the score. Untapped New York spoke with fireworks designer Gary Souza of Pyro Spectaculars by Souza and Executive Producer of Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks^®, Will Coss, to learn what it takes to put the show together and find out what’s new this year!

Gary Souza has been in the fireworks business for over 40 years. He works alongside his sister, brother, and their children. Four generations of the Souza family have been part of the California-based Pyro Spectacular team. It takes the team an entire year to design the 4th of July show and prepare it for New York City. Souza says he draws inspiration from nature, using colors found in flowers and mountain landscapes.

Once in New York, the crew works for twelve days to ensure every effect is carefully set in place. Firework shells can weigh as much as 30 pounds and measure 10 inches in diameter. More than 75 miles of wires connect the shells to twelve computers that precisely control when each effect goes off.

While the wider west side river location last year allowed for higher reaching and larger fireworks, the narrower East River location will allow the fireworks to be closer to the audience. "They're going to be right there in front of you the whole time," says Souza.

2025 marks the third time Souza has had the opportunity to launch fireworks off the Brooklyn Bridge for the Macy's show. "This is going to be a little bit different from the last time we did it," which was in 2019.

There will be some similar effects, Souza explained, but this year's show is much more technologically challenging. "The types of fireworks we have are coming from Italy, Spain, and Portugal. They're very precise, very bright in color, and very accurate when you fire them electronically. So we'll be able to change angles, and make fans and X's and Z's and helixes, and waves, all to the beat of music."

One effect that will be enhanced this year is a waterfall firework setting off from the bridge. "The waterfall we have this year is twice as large, twice as long, and twice as bright as when we did it back in 2019," says Souza, "It will burn for about 60 seconds, but the highlight of it is after it has burned for 30 seconds and people go 'Oh my gosh,' all of a sudden it just fills in [the scnee] from the roadway, from the railings to the towers, it creates what I think is one of the most magical moments in the show."

“It starts with the music,” Will Coss told Untapped New York last year. The fireworks are set to a custom 25-minute musical score produced by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson and James Poyser. Academy Award-winner Ariana DeBose will host the pre-fireworks show with performances by Jonas Brothers, Eric Church, Lenny Kravitz, Ava Max, Keke Palmer, and Trisha Yearwood.

New York City is giving away 100,000 free tickets to designated viewing areas in Brooklyn and Manhattan. While Manhattan tickets are booked out, as of publication time, there are still spots left for Brooklyn's Hicks and Joralemon Street, and Columbia St. and Atlantic Avenue, viewing zones.

There are also free designated viewing areas where spots will be available on a first-come-first-served basis on the day of the show. Just plan to get there early and expect large crowds! Macy’s has a map of public viewing areas on its website, including which sites are ADA accessible.

For those planning to watch at home, Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks^® will be broadcast on NBC and streamed on Peacock on starting at 8pm ET on Friday, July 4th.