As these last few days of 2023 end, there is work being done at Reunion Tower to ring in 2024. NBC 5’s Noelle Walker got a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to put on spectacular fireworks show.
Installation is set to begin Thursday morning of the fireworks and pyrotechnics atop Dallas’ Reunion Tower that will light up the Downtown Dallas skyline when the clock hits midnight as part of the official Lone Star NYE celebration Sunday night.
“We built [the display] so that it can be seen anywhere that you can see Reunion Tower,” said Reunion Tower president Dusti Groskreutz. “We have effects coming off all levels of the tower, of the legs, off the rooftops, up to 600 feet in the air.”
Aside from the thousands of pyrotechnic effects that will make up the bulk of the Lone Star NYE show, there will also be a synchronized drone show made up of 500 light-up drones.
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"We have all of our markings all over the whole building," Pyrotechnico Director of Design Matt Peterson said, explaining the precision planning that goes into putting on the fireworks at Reunion Tower. "It's definitely special to work here."
Groskreutz, the Reunion Tower president, said that she considers the show to be a gift to the City of Dallas, one that has helped to make Dallas one of the premier destinations for New Year’s Eve anywhere.
“We realized [the celebration] could be much more spectacular on New Year’s Eve and put it on the map alongside Paris, or Sydney, or New York,” Groskreutz said. “Right now, we are the number one show in the central time zone and we are trying to spread our wings, and not just for us. We are doing this to put Dallas on the map.”
This is the eighth year that Reunion Tower, which is owned by Hunt Realty Investments, Inc., has put on the fireworks show. The event has become the signature New Year’s Eve celebration in the southwest.
"Though this is still very exciting for me, I realize that the hard work pays off when it's excitement for YOU," Peterson said. "That's what drives you to produce the perfection."
