Idaho Matters

Here’s the crazy backstory of the fireworks company that dazzles Boise each 4th of July

“Most people start thinking about fireworks on July 1st. Our family starts thinking about the next year on July 5th.”

Broadcast on:: 01 Jul 2024

A group of people silhouetted while watching fireworks explode in the night sky. — (Murphy Woodhouse / Boise State Public Radio)

Western Display – which will put on Boise’s 4^th of July fireworks show again this year – is one of North America’s most successful pyrotechnics experts.

“We put on approximately 300 shows throughout the year – about 200 of them for Independence Day,” said Heather Gobet, co-owner of Western Display. “Most of our shows, of late, are in Idaho, Oregon and Washington.”

And while their company is in the “surprise” business, perhaps the biggest surprise is how what was once a family farm, growing medicinal herbs in the 1940s, became a fireworks powerhouse.

Gobet joined Summer Altieri, special events coordinator for the City of Boise, to visit with Morning Edition host George Prentice to preview this year’s showcase, get all the do’s and don’ts for the big show, and share the history of Western Display.