Preparations On For New Year's Eve In Baltimore's Inner Harbor

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- With just hours to go until the clock strikes midnight, excitement is building for Baltimore to ring in a new year. The Inner Harbor is starting to fill up. The city expects thousands of people to visit tonight to watch the fireworks -- but first, they had to be prepared for the big show.

It's the Baltimore tradition -- lighting up for another New Year. Tens of thousands of people will pack the Inner Harbor for the last night of 2016.

"I'm sure everyone's eager for the start of 2017, so we're just looking to go out with a bang," says Megan Bosse, with the Baltimore Office of Promotion and Arts.

Baltimore-owned Image Engineering spends hours putting fireworks into their mortar shells, making sure everything is fused together and will go off perfectly on New Year's Eve.

"Just seeing the finished product happen at midnight, and go off, and seeing the fan reaction, it's really great to see," says Joe Suehle, with Image Engineering.
The anticipation for the big show will start to build at 9 -- with music in the inner harbor. Then, at the stroke of midnight 14-minutes of fireworks will delight massive crowds in the harbor.

Those crowds, Baltimore Police Officers are prepared to keep safe.

"You're going to see officers on foot. If you see something out of place, somebody that looks out of place, let an officer know," says T.J. Smith, Baltimore City Police spokesman.

Police are also encouraging partiers to find a sober ride and make sure 2017 starts off both celebratory and safe. Tonight's fireworks show is 14 minutes long and will feature 18 different popular songs from 2016. You can catch the fireworks display live right here on WJZ.