On the night of July 4, 2026, more than 840,000 shells and effects filled the sky above the National Mall. Ten firing positions stretched from the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and West Potomac Park to eight barges on the Potomac River. For 40 minutes, Washington, D.C. hosted the largest fireworks displays in American history, produced by Pyrotecnico in partnership with Freedom 250 as the capstone of America’s Semiquincentennial.

A Record Fireworks Display Built on Detail

Pyrotecnico set out to create a thoughtfully designed show that would be worthy of the importance of this milestone, one that would be memorable and awe-inspiring. It was also orchestrated with the goal of setting a new record title for the largest fireworks display, surpassing the previous record long held by Iglesia Ni Cristo in the Philippines. Event organizers Freedom 250, supported by Pyrotecnico, submitted the official documentation to Guinness World Records for verification, with a final verification coming at a later date.

Rocco Vitale, President of Pyrotecnico, put it simply.

“It was an honor to help mark this milestone for our country,” said Rocco Vitale, President of Pyrotecnico. “Our team worked through extreme heat and long days to create a show that lived up to this once-in-a-generation moment. What we wanted was for people to walk away believing they saw the best fireworks display of their lives, a proud, patriotic memory to pass down for generations.”

A Fireworks Display Built for the Families of America

For all the scale and all the record-chasing, the goal never changed. Every shell, every firing position, every hour in the heat came down to the moment a family found their spot on the grass and looked up.

The show drew widespread praise across social media in the hours after it aired. President Trump congratulated Freedom 250 and Pyrotecnico directly, calling it the most spectacular fireworks show he had ever seen and commending the team on a job well done.

A Celebration Made Possible By Many

There are many people and organizations that helped turn a single night on the National Mall into a memory that will be shared for generations.

Our Pyrotecnico Crew

A show of this scale and significance was the result of an extraordinary team effort. For six months, Pyrotecnico’s crew of designers, technicians, and safety teams worked to build a display worthy of America’s 250th birthday, then executed it flawlessly on the ground despite extreme heat and last-minute weather delays. Of the 850,000 pyrotechnics set up for the show, 840,000 successfully fired, a testament to the meticulous planning and precision of the team behind the scenes. Supporting them, Pyrotecnico’s back office team worked just as tirelessly to coordinate logistics, permitting, scheduling, and the countless administrative details that made it possible for the creative and technical teams to focus on the show itself.

Special recognition to our friends with Ricasa, Foti International Fireworks, Pyrodigital, Alive Co, and pyrotechnicians from Mexico and Japan.

Partners & Organizations

We’re equally grateful to the vendors, agencies and organizations that made the evening possible including President Donald J. Trump, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, White House Task Force 250 Executive Director Brittany Baldwin, Freedom 250, Event Strategies, Inc. (ESI), along with:

•  AT&T FirstNet
•  ATF
•  Bearcom
•  Clean Decisions
•  Cotour
•  D.C. Metropolitan Police Department
•  Eastshore Sound
•  EMG
•  Enterprise
•  Equipment Share
•  FEMA
•  FirstNet
•  Hasta La Visa Baby
•  James Creek Marina
•  JLT Trucking and Waste & Effort LLC
•  Joint Armed Forces Chorus
•  Joint Armed Forces Orchestra
•  Kushner Law
•  Military District of Washington
•  National Park Foundation
•  National Park Service
•  Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
•  Rock It Cargo
•  Seaward
•  State Department
•  United Rentals
•  U.S. Coast Guard
•  U.S. Department of Transportation
•  U.S. Park Police
•  U.S. Secret Service
•  U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
•  U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
•  Vulcan Materials