Garnet Jolly, Founder of bangers & crash fireworks

As a kid on quiet North Caicos, my portal to the outside world was a black-and-white television. Every Fourth of July, I would watch the U.S. fireworks displays on TV. But I wasn’t impressed. 'It wasn’t until the late 1980s – I was a young adult by then – I saw fireworks in person for the first time on Pine Cay. More impressive than on TV. I am the only licensed fireworks technician in the Turks and Caicos.

'After a period working as a fisherman in North Caicos, I went on to study mechanical engineering through an online program and became the chief engineer at the Sands Resort for the following 10 years. Part of my job was handling the resort’s fireworks shows. And that’s when my interest grew.'

I decided to become a certified fireworks technician and make a career out of the bright, booming explosives. For six weeks, I worked under the guidance of Gary Avins, principal of Firepower Displays Unlimited in MiamI. I soon had become the only certified pyrotechnician in the turks and caicos islands.
I had to work as an apprentice to learn the technical aspects of fireworks shows. There’s a lot of preparation and design that goes into the show, so while design is important, safety overrides all else.
I always treat every fireworks show like the very first one, you can’t afford to make any mistakes.