Jul. 4—ROCHESTER — The Fourth of July is here and the Post Bulletin spent less than $100 to see how much bang you can get for your buck when it comes to fireworks.
There are firework tents all over the Rochester area this season. Vapor of Smoke Fireworks have tents in every Hy-Vee in town, plus TNT Fireworks has locations at Rochester’s Walmarts.
There are a wide range of fireworks and they vary in height, sound, duration and presentation. Some fireworks spark and create a lot of noise, but not every firework is legal in Minnesota. Essentially, if the fireworks stay on the ground and don’t explode, they’re legal in Minnesota.
The Post Bulletin purchased 11 options at a variety of price points for our 2024 Fourth of July celebration. A group of Post Bulletin staff gave each option a rating based on xxxxx.
We bought four different options for under $5. Although colored smoke bombs are a classic and an excellent option for little kids, we stayed away from them. The lack of sparks allow them to be very family-friendly, but they are lower on the wow factor.
The four firework options we went with were the classic tank, the whistling fountain, a Jack in the Box and a chicken blowing balloon.
The classic tank is a classic for a reason. Between myself and photographers, Lily Dozier and Maya Giron, we decided to give this one a 3 out of 5. It was colorful and had a few types of sparks. The duration was good for the price and we thought it was very fun to watch.
The Jack in the Box firework was also a hit for us. It was our favorite pick out of the low-cost items. The firework had a fun sparking design with bright colors and big sparks. It was a good size for the cost and could be executed safely. It was an easy 4 out of 5 from us.
Not all of them were a hit though. We didn’t enjoy the Whistling Fountain as much. If you have a child or pet who is sensitive to noise, this firework is not for you. It had zero sparks and was just five seconds of very loud whistling.
The Chicken Blowing Balloon was lackluster as well. It didn’t do much and the balloon only inflated a little bit. We were not overly impressed by it, but it was still a cute experience.
Lily and I went to get our fireworks from the tent located near the Scheel’s in the Apache Mall. They had a deal going on where certain fireworks were buy two, you got one 50% off. We bought six fireworks and they were higher quality than the cheaper options.
We purchased two color related options, the Gold Standard and Sapphire and Gold. Both were very pretty with a good amount of sparks to them. They both had a good wow factor, however, I personally liked the Gold Standard more. It is marketed as a quieter firework option, which is good for me since I didn’t want to scare my cat too badly. We would rate both of these a 3 or 4 out of 5.
We also bought two animal related firework options. One was a purple tube like firework with a caterpillar on it. There were other insect-like options available too. The other one was by the brand Mighty Max and had an eagle on the packaging. Both were very fun to watch and had a really big wow factor. The eagle was a lot larger than some of the other options and felt like it was longer in duration than some of the others.
The caterpillar was a fun experience, too. It didn’t seem to get as big or wild as the eagle but it still had a decent amount of color and a variety of spark patterns. Both options were a 4 out of 5 and did not disappoint.
One of these items did disappoint us, but not for the reason you might think. When shopping for fireworks, I had to pick up the Friendship Pagoda. I thought it was super cute and since I was lighting these off with co-workers, I thought it would be a fun one to pick up. It had so much potential if the terrain was correct.
We were lighting the fireworks off in the backyard of my house in the driveway. My driveway is made out of gravel and not pavement. This firework is supposed to spin but the gravel hindered it and did not give it a fighting chance. However, it is supposed to sprout a cute paper pagoda at the end and I want to give it an honorary 3/5 for user error.
The highlight of these six medium-priced fireworks was the Blueberry Snow Cone. They come in a variety of different flavors and there was a larger option that has been a high seller this season. The cone did not disappoint. This firework had a great duration of sparks with a large variety of color, pattern and height. The small firework surprised us with how long the actual length of the sparks and overall presentation was amazing for the $9 price tag. It was an easy 5/5.
We also had to get one high-ticket item. The cheapest, big firework was retailed around $20 and we had to see if it was worth the price. The Koi Pond is a fish shaped firework that starts by shooting some sparks out of the front of the fish before shooting up from its back. The firework lasted a good duration of time and had a few different types of sparks. The firework itself got some good height and had a plethora of colors and sparks.
Visually, the Koi Pond was worth the $20 to someone who is wanting to spend a little more money. We thought it was super fun to watch and the experience of lighting off fireworks with friends and family can be such a joyous event. We all agreed that the Koi Pond was a clear 5/5.
The Koi Pond is a lot larger than the other fireworks that we tested and there is more room needed to light it off safely. The easiest way to ensure safety is to use a longer lighter to light the fuses and make sure there is enough space around to ensure nothing starts on fire. In addition to that, dosing your fireworks with water and leaving them out overnight is the best way to ensure they do not reignite.
“People think that when the thing is done firing that they’re safe, but they’re not safe,” said Tim Bachtle, owner of Vapor of Smoke Fireworks. “Some people will throw it into the garbage can and the garbage gets on fire. So I would suggest that when you get done with the fireworks, you put it in the middle of the driveway and get a hose and hose it down. Then let it sit there overnight.”
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