by Andrew Naylor Photographs by Joseph Ruff July 2, 1999, SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA Every year Paramount's Great America puts on a fireworks display that draws crowds so large that they have to close exits on highway 101. Lasting over 20 minutes, the Independence Day display can be seen and heard as far as 20 miles away. This year I was able to photograph the installation of the show that happens on the Friday before July 4th. They were setting up about 700 shells for the Friday Fireworks series that kicks off today and goes through September 3rd. In our photo section you can see many empty tubes which they plan to fill with 2,000 shells for the July 4th celebration. The shooting area is located in a staff-only area behind the Top Gun rollercoaster with tubes covering a large area close to the park's water reservoir. Most people drive to see the show and park in neighboring parking lots, so the best way to get in and out of the area is to get there early and leave late. If you leave when everyone else leaves, it can take as long as 90 minutes to reach one of the nearby freeways. When the traffic going in to the area backs up to highway 101, the CHP closes the Laurance Expressway, Great America Parkway, and San Thomas Expressway exits. The reason for the traffic is due to the general opinion that the Great America fireworks display is the best fireworks show south of San Francisco. Click here for more pictures Related Links Paramount's Great America homepage My homepage Joe's homepage (the photographer) rec.pyrotechnics newsgroup people have visited this page since July 2, 1999. This page was last updated 7-2-99. Return to Andrew's Homepage.