BOONE, Iowa — The skies will light up over the Central Iowa Expo Grounds in August.

This week, members of the Pyrotechnics Guild International were in Boone to work on planning their huge annual event that takes place August 2-8 at the Central Iowa Expo Grounds.

PGI Inc. is an independent worldwide body of amateur and professional fireworks enthusiasts. The organization was founded in 1969, and has around 2,000 members.

“It’s a fireworks club and we come together once a year,” said Connie Widmann, a member of PGI for around 25 years. “We typically have between 1,700 and 2,000 members and families. We combine them together to come to that number who attend the one week event.”

The group keeps track of the economic impact it has on a community, which is around $2.3 million dollars. People who are members and pay the convention fee can learn much about fireworks.

“You can learn how to make fireworks there are beginner classes that you can go to,” said Widmann. “If you’ve never made something before and you can go to a class and learn, if you’re interested in becoming a pyro-technician to set up public displays, we have courses for that type of licensing.”

The event drew 2,300 attendees last year. This year’s event will feature two evenings where members of the public can buy tickets and enjoy firework shows from a viewing area.

“On Sunday night we have multiple shows, they will be shows that you have never seen before in your life,” said Widmann. “It will not be anything like any little town show that you’ve gone to see before, on Friday night we will have another public night, we called that our grand finale of the week.”

The group has staged shows in Newton and Mason City before. They chose the Central Iowa Expo Grounds because it has lots of open space and air conditioned buildings for meetings and seminars during the event.

If you would like more information about this organization, or the convention visit the Pyrotechnics Guild International website.

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