How to watch the Reunion Tower NYE fireworks show

TOPEKA (KSNT) - You can watch the sky light up in downtown Dallas when the clock hits midnight as part of the Lone Star NYE celebration this Sunday.

KSNT News spoke to Reunion Tower Director of Business Development and Communications Gregg Elkin and Pyrotechnical Director of Design Matt Peterson about the NYE festivities. This year the show is doubling the number of drones to 500 for its light show.

"When you combine those three elements, the fireworks, the lightshow and the drones it makes for a one-of-a-kind show that you can't see anywhere else," Elkin said.

This is the eighth year that Reunion Tower has partnered with Hunt Realty Investments, Inc. to help produce what has become the signature New Year’s Eve celebration in the southwest.

This year Reunion Tower will tell a story of NYE throughout the century with its show. Elkin said the display will take viewers on a trip back to the 1920s with iconic visuals and music.

"The technology has really advanced," Elkin said. "What they do now is really more 3D, much more high definition, the lights on each drone are brighter. They actually fly independently of each other when they program them. They have really upped their game to make that a really cool show and that company is doing 10 shows across the USA for New Year's Eve."

Reunion Tower spends all year preparing for the NYE show. The drone show is being organized by Sky Elements. After Reunion Tower had a plan and design, Sky Elements took about six weeks to develop the drone show, according to Elkin.

"Once we finish the year we go in and identify things we want to improve on, get better, synchronization, collaboration all of those things," Peterson said.

Reunion Tower will shoot off more than 15,000 pounds of fireworks from Spain this year. Elkins said it's over 5,000 different effects that go from the top of the tower to the bottom.

"It's literally 10 minutes of fireworks going off horizontally, vertical." Elkin said. "From over 500 feet of building."

Bowling for Soup will headline the performances and be joined on the stage this year by Texas country artist Bri Bagwell and alternative country group Vandoliers.

You can watch the live Lone Star NYE show from 11:30 p.m. Sunday to 12:30 a.m. Monday on KSNT Channel 27. The fireworks show will kickoff when the clock strikes midnight.

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