Carl Thompson can’t see the crowd watching the fireworks display that concludes CarmelFest, but he’s well aware of its response at the end. The roaring cheer provides a rush that’s made his job coordinating the show for the last 18 years well worth the months of planning it takes to pull it off.
“You could have the grumpiest old man in the crowd at a fireworks display and put a smile on his face,” said Thompson, a lead technician with Kingsbury-based Pyrotecnico. “Everybody loves fireworks.”
Thompson began working with CarmelFest in 2005 after the man previously producing the display died of a heart attack less than six weeks before the event. Jeff Worrell, a CarmelFest volunteer who has been in charge of the fireworks show for 31 years, met Thompson during a scramble to find a last-minute replacement.
Worrell said he initially wondered if Pyrotecnico, which was then known as Melrose Pyrotechnics, would be up for the task, since it still had availability on July 4. But the company did not disappoint.
“They wanted to be our vendor and jumped through hoops (to coordinate the display in 2005),” Worrell said. “Carl, from Day 1, was the guy that made all that happen, and he makes it easy. He always wants to make sure that everybody is happy, not only the crowd, but the fire marshal, (CarmelFest) committee and (nearby) business owners. He is a true professional and a really cool guy, because he loves fireworks like I do.”
Worrell typically begins planning for the CarmelFest fireworks show in the fall by creating a playlist of patriotic music for the show.
“It’s a balancing act,” Worrell said. “My audience is age 5 to 95, so I’m trying to put a little something in there for everyone.”
Once the playlist is approved, Pyrotecnico uses a computer system to help synchronize the fireworks to music. Every explosion is deliberately selected to set the pace and tone of that part of the show. Often, planners will coordinate the display to match the lyrics, such as lighting up the sky with red fireworks during the line “and the rockets’ red glare” in “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
As the event draws near, the individual shells are wired up for the show and connected to a computer that knows exactly when to shoot off each one. A driver certified to haul explosive hazardous materials takes the fireworks to the launch site, which for CarmelFest this year is at the Carmel Ice Skadium property.
“This year, it’s going to be a three-day process for me and my crew to set up the show, because it’s a substantially large display,” Thompson said.
At this point, Worrell helps ensure Thompson and his team connect with CarmelFest and safety officials. On the day of the show, Worrell is stationed at the gazebo as the Carmel Symphony Orchestra wraps up its concert to give the signal for the fireworks display to begin as soon as the conductor’s baton drops for the final time.
Like Thompson, Worrell doesn’t get to watch much of the show because he soon relocates to begin directing crowds and traffic heading home from the festival. But it’s all worth the work, he said.
“I love what we’re doing for the next generations and helping them to remember and appreciate not only time with family but what the day truly means – celebrating our nation’s birth,” he said. “I really crave seeing families together enjoying something in Carmel, right in our own backyard.”
Thompson, 50, has scaled back to part-time hours with Pyrotecnico, as he described it as “tedious, back-breaking work.” But he’s eager to continue the tradition in Carmel.
“I couldn’t ask for a better Fourth of July place to shoot the show,” he said. “I’m very pleased and very blessed to be part of it.”
Learn more at CarmelFest.net and Pyrotecnico.com.
Biggest show yet
The skies over central Carmel will light up like never before at 9:45 p.m. July 4, as the CarmelFest fireworks display is set to be the longest yet.
The 30-minute show will last nearly eight minutes longer than last year’s event, but it comes as a result of other changes planned for the two-day festival. Instead of having fireworks shows on the east and west sides of town July 3, this year a single show will take place on Independence Day.
The fireworks show will be set to music that will be played on speakers throughout the festival area and can be heard on 91.3 FM. The music must be played through an FM radio to be in sync with the show, as music streamed online has a delay.
2023 CarmelFest fireworks playlist
- “Liberty Fanfare” — John Williams
- “God Bless America” — Leann Rimes
- “Party in the USA” — Miley Cyrus
- “America the Beautiful” — Ray Charles
- “Waves” — Luke Bryan
- “Chicken Fried” — Zac Brown Band
- “Our Country” — John Mellencamp
- “God Bless the USA” — Lee Greenwood
- “America” — Rodney Atkins
- “What a Wonderful World” — Louis Armstrong
- “Armed Forces Medley” — U.S. Marine Band
- “Living in America” — James Brown
- “Great Balls of Fire” — Jerry Lee Lewis
- “All American Girl” — Carrie Underwood
- “American Soldier” — Toby Keith
- “America (Reprise)” — Neil Diamond
- “Stars & Stripes Forever” — J.P. Sousa
