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Final Preparations Underway For New Year's Eve Spectacular

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Tuesday night, tens of thousands will ring in 2014 at Baltimore's annual massive fireworks celebration, the New Year's Eve Spectacular.

Monique Griego has more on the building anticipation.

The Inner Harbor is calm now but Tuesday, it will be filled with people. The show takes months of preparation.

When sparks start to fly over Baltimore for New Year's Eve, more than 50,000 people are expected to take in the spectacle from the Inner Harbor.

"The atmosphere is much better being here in person, seeing everything and getting caught up in the festivities of it," said Steve Wells, Federal Hill.

"It brings a lot of people from the suburbs into the city to watch the fireworks," said Min Son, Mount Vernon.

The bombs go off at the stroke of midnight but the party begins hours before. Baltimore City Police say they're ready for the crowds and are doing everything to ensure people celebrate safely.

"You're going to see cops in uniforms, cops in plainclothes, cops on bikes," said Baltimore Police Colonel Darryl de Sousa.

While New Year's is the big part at the Inner Harbor, the light show at the Power Plant has been attracting visitors all month.

"It's just a cool place to be. There's a lot of people around and there's a lot to do," said one attendee.

And this year for the first time ever, a laser light show will add some extra flavor to the more than 2,0000 pyrotechnics being launched into the air. Both are being done by Baltimore-based Image Engineering.

"The guys are Baltimore bred. A lot of them live in the city so we're excited about this," said Andy Suehle, Image Engineering.

Crowds are already anticipating a show they know won't disappoint.

"I think it's great. The fireworks we've seen have really been comparable to the stuff you see in Vegas and New York. It's really good," said Eli Renner, Mount Vernon.

Police say in addition to all the officers on the ground, they will also be using Citiwatch cameras and Foxtrot helicopters.

The New Year's Eve party starts at 9 p.m. and ends at 12:30 a.m.

You can watch the New Year's celebration on WJZ starting at 11 p.m.

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