There are over 100 “brands” of Fireworks in the world, almost all are produced and exported from China. China is home to hundreds of fireworks factories, most of them in the Hunan Province and centered around Liuyang City. The average cycle of a firework from China to your backyard is quite complicated and can take up to 9 months from the time an importer orders it before it arrives on a steel ocean container at their warehouse. Orders to China must be large, often times 400 cases is the minimum for just one item! Factories are making around 3,000 individual firework devices that include fountains, reloadable aerial shells, repeating cakes, roman candles, parachutes, sparklers, snap pops and many more popular items.
So…how can you tell which fireworks are going to perform the best, safely? If there are two similar price and size 500g cakes from two different brands how do you know which one is higher quality? This can be tough. We see a lot of people in retail stores pick up the items and shake it, or say “feel how heavy this one is!” In reality, weight has very little to nothing to do with the performance of an item. Many fireworks are loaded with fake clay tubes as counter weight to help stop them from tipping over when firing and that weight has nothing to do with the amount of powder inside or it’s performance in the sky.
The best fireworks…Most major manufacturers today have strict guidelines and quality control practices in place. The fireworks must pass testing in both China and the meet minimum safety requirements in the USA per the Consumer Product Safety Commission before sale. However (and there’s always a however!) there are still many smaller rogue factories in China willing to make inexpensive fireworks that may NOT meet all those requirements, as well as US importers looking to increase their margins or price slash by selling inferior products. High quality fireworks will perform well by reaching their intended height or projected burn time, not tip over, not catch fire and will generally have larger and more colorful breaks or fancier effects.
Almost all of the better brands will include their logo, website and many even have a QR code that can be scanned by smart phone now taking the consumer directly to a web page or video of that exact item. Always inspect for damage, loose fuses, signs of water stains etc before purchasing. The higher quality fireworks will usually be constructed with thicker cardboard and internal structures and should not feel “mushy” or crush easily when handled.
Our main brand we have carried has been Dominator Fireworks. They have been exporting high quality fireworks from China for a decade with an amazingly low dud rate and excellent safety record while managing to outperform almost every brand available…at better pricing! We work closely with them on our selection so that we can offer you the very best, and safest fireworks available in the USA today.
Happy 4th of July!
