An incredible fireworks display takes quite a bit of work and advance planning, but it will definitely be worth it when you wow your audience with an exciting and explosive evening’s entertainment.

If you’ve got an event looming, or you want to start your preparations for Bonfire Night nice and early, here’s a quick checklist of essential tasks you’ll need to do:

1. Assemble a team. Unless your event is tiny, you’ll need help managing the fireworks and the crowd safely. Choose your team and allocate jobs to spread the workload.

2. Nail down the venue and the date. Your ideal venue may get booked up quickly, especially if it’s a Bonfire Night display, so scope out the local area nice and early. Look for somewhere with lots of space, good transport links and access and not too many neighbours and residential properties nearby.

3. Get some expert advice. If no one in your team has experience planning displays, get some tips from an expert. Better still, hire an experienced display planner, like the team at 1st Galaxy Fireworks, to plan the display for you.

4. Inform the authorities. Once you have your date, it’s recommended to inform the local council, police, fire service and first aid organisations.

5. Market the event. Get the word out with posters in shop windows, lots of posts on social media and perhaps an ad or feature in the local newspaper.

6. Organise safety equipment. You’ll need safety signs, fire extinguishers, buckets of water for sparklers, hi vis vests and protective clothing for your team.

7. Plan the schedule for the evening. This could be as simple as the start and end times of the display, but you can also include times for when your staff need to carry out key tasks.

8. Create a site plan. You’ll need to mark out the firing zone, spectator area and other key points on the site, leaving plenty of space for each.

9. Create a barrier for the spectator zone. This will stop spectators from getting too close to the firing zone

10. Let the neighbours know. Not everyone is a fan of fireworks, especially if they’re taking place next door. Give neighbours plenty of notice, and perhaps a free ticket to the event, to keep them on-side.

11. Come up with emergency plans. This means having a trained first aider on site and planning for every possible emergency or worst-case scenario you can think of.

12. Buy your fireworks. Only buy certified, high quality fireworks from a reputable provider.

13. Arrange for your fireworks to be safely stored. They need to stay dry and away from children and animals.

14. Sort out lighting, signage, parking and access. Think about how all of your spectators will get on site and get around safely.

15. Consider insurance. Will you be liable for any injuries or loss sustained during the evening? If so, you may need to take out your own public liability insurance.