Question: What do you get when you bring together thousands of people and four of the best fireworks teams from around the world?

Answer: You get a heckuva good time.

My mother-in-law, my wife, and I soaked up one last bit of summer in Traverse City during the inaugural International Fireworks Championship at Turtle Creek Stadium last Saturday. We were lucky enough to snag tickets back in June, when the first wave of tickets sold out in less than an hour.

I’ve always enjoyed fireworks displays during the Fourth of July — I mean, who doesn’t? — but that international competition takes fireworks displays to a whole other level.

From the time the first fireworks shot up into the air and popped into brilliant displays of color and light, I, along with the thousands of others in attendance, were hooked.

The competition tasked four teams — one each from the U.S., Germany, France, and Mexico — to present a 15-minute fireworks display set to music — with a winner determined at the end both by a juried vote and an audience vote. Each team came to win and presented magnificent displays that drew on the traditions and heritage of their countries and also on contemporary music.

By the time the smoke cleared — and there was a lot of it, so much so that there was a 15-minute break between each show so the skies overhead could clear up and the next team could prepare — Germany’s team, TOF Feuerwork, took top honors in both categories.

Each presentation was preceded by a countdown from 10 and the push of a red lever by a different event sponsor to begin the show. Germany was the first team to take the stage and set a high standard right away after its first series of fireworks produced at least a half-dozen displays of color at once.

I’ll admit, there were a lot of fireworks – like, a lot — so, even now, it’s hard to recall each beat of all four team’s presentations.

But the displays were amazing, the crackles and pops were many, and it was awesome to see pros sync fireworks to music or even watch fireworks shooting off in perfect time from one end of the outfield to the other.

The music selections were pretty amazing, too.

Germany’s display included Of Monsters and Men’s hit, “Little Talks.” France included the Rolling Stones’ “Paint it Black.” Mexico worked “Live and Let Die” into its show. And the U.S. had the Foo Fighters’ “My Hero” and Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight” as part of its display.

One of the U.S. team’s big moments came during “In the Air Tonight,” which included a lengthy buildup to Collins’ famous drum solo. Unfortunately, the fireworks popped just after the drums, so the big moment wasn’t quite in sync, but the show recovered nicely with plenty of fireworks after that and colorful displays of red, white, and blue.

For an inaugural event, the fireworks competition was a hit.

The fireworks were undoubtedly the star of the show, but there were glow-in-the dark gifts for kids, sticker giveaways, and lots of moments before and during the show during which audience participation was encouraged from the folks hosting the event.

Having at least 5,000 people packed into a stadium all at once didn’t come without its hangups, including parking logjams and long lines for food, but it didn’t take away from the overall wonderful experience of that one-of-a-kind show that just might become one of the hottest tickets in Northwest Michigan each summer.

James Andersen can be reached at 989-358-5686 or jandersen@thealpenanews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ja_alpenanews.