40 years of red, white and boom: behind the Falmouth Fireworks

FALMOUTH, MA – For 43 years, Arthur Ratsy has been the man behind the magic of the Falmouth Fireworks. Started in 1980 when a few friends got together to come up with a plan to bring a literal pop of joy to the seaside town.   “There were probably 6 or 8 of us sitting around one night having a cocktail -and it was rotten the weather, it was February and somebody said, ‘You know, we should have fireworks’ and I said ‘Fine, let’s have fireworks’.” From that moment, Ratsy recalls, first official Falmouth fireworks committee was born.         “Originally it was 5 guys that got together and raised about five thousand dollars and have a little show and they got somebody to put off the fireworks,” laughs John Quesnel, current President of the Falmouth Fireworks Committee.  

What’s the vibe: Celebrating Fourth of July by the sea under one of the best fireworks displays in the nation.

  At its core a tribute to those who fought for our nation’s independence, the celebration at the Heights today draws nearly 25,000 thousand people watching from Woods Hole to Menahunt Beach flocking the sidewalks down Maravista – some even taking in the show by boat.   “In this area of the heights it’s gonna be probably 25-30,000 people,” smiled Ratsy. “But you take the rest of the shoreline in Falmouth and you could probably see upwards of 100,000 people.”   Featuring food trucks, live music and the spectacular light show put on by Stephen and his crew at Atlas Pyrotechnics, it’s far more work than it looks.   “Behind the scenes, it’s a whole endeavor,” says Quesnel. “We’ll start working on July 5th for next year’s show. Because it takes a lot of planning, fundraising, events and so forth. So we’re basically working year round on what people think is, basically boom you show up and they go off.”   Karen Rinaldo, designer of the official Falmouth Fireworks merchandise for 30 years, has raised nearly $20,000 for the 20-minute display that is renowned as one of the top 10 in the US.   “There’s probably 15-18 of us that work hard all year round to make this happen,” says Quesnel.   The town of Falmouth makes an annual contribution of $15,000, the pyrotechnics display that can be seen across the Vineyard Sound in total runs a staggering $80,000. But the rest of the fundraising is grassroots with passion Arthur and the committee are proud of.   “To be able to do something like this, and on our Independence Day-we SHOULD be celebrating our birthday.”   The excitement in the air was easy to feel as the crowd descended on the beach, red wagons and light sabers in tow. The question I wanted answered from one of the founding fathers of the Falmouth fireworks-where’s the best place to watch the show?   According to Arthur: “This is the best place to view it, in the open space with the ball park.”