America

An Inside Look at the Firework Shows That Wow Wawa Welcome America Visitors

Take a step on to the barge where all of the action happens with our unique, 360-degree perspective

NBC10 / Vince Lattanzio

An incredible amount of work goes into making the sky light up with red, white and blue for America's birthday celebration.

NBC10 captured Monday's annual Wawa Welcome America festival in Philadelphia from right in the middle of the action. Control where you're looking in a special, 360-degree video below (Mobile users: watch the video on YouTube's app): 

A team of 10 skilled pyrotechnicians from firework display company Pyrotecnico put on the dazzling display in the Delaware River. Pyrotecnico puts on three firework shows during Wawa Welcome America — two on the Philadelphia waterfront and a special display at the Philadelphia Museum of Art for the Fourth of July. They also produce fireworks shows for the Phillies and Eagles as well as other displays around the country all year long.

Nearly 11,000lbs of explosives were loaded on to a barge at the Philadelphia Navy Yard and stuffed into computer-controlled launching equipment for Monday night's fireworks display at Penn's Landing.

The crew, with the help of a tug boat, positioned the barge in the middle of the Delaware River just south of Chestnut Street.

Right on cue to the music, each effect is executed and launches towards the sky. 

Here is a behind-the-scenes look at how it all worked:

How many fireworks does it take to light up the skies over Philadelphia? We take you behind the scenes to find out.
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