Newton City Officials Compiling Proposal to Host Pyrotechnics Convention in 2022

At-Large Newton City Councilman Randy Ervin and a group of Newton residents have been working for months to bring hundreds of firework enthusiasts to town next year. During last night’s City Council meeting, Ervin said Pyrotechnics Guild International has requested Newton apply to host the organization’s 2022 annual convention. City officials have started putting that proposal together.

Pyrotechnics Guild International Board members from Houston Texas, South Carolina, and Wisconsin have already been in Newton to personally look at facilities….in particular Iowa Speedway. Ervin says that would be the host site for the convention. He notes the estimated economic impact the event would have on the City and Jasper County is 2.5 to 3.5-million dollars. The Pyrotechnics Guild International claims between 12 and 13 hundred of its 16-hundred plus members typically attend the annual conventions. According to Ervin, Mason City…Lincoln Nebraska…and this year’s convention City Fargo North Dakota are among the other communities vying to host the 2022 convention. Pyrotechnics Guild International has been around since 1969.