Every year, we host a big Victoria Day fireworks party. For my American friends – this means that yes, we celebrate the birthday of a long dead English Queen, but we’ll take our holidays where we can get them. This past Victoria Day we hosted one hundred of our closest friends and neighbours (an annual event at our place) and even managed to relax and enjoy it ourselves!

With July just around the corner and firework celebrations preparing to light up the sky once again, I thought I’d share a few tips on how to host an easy (and epic) stress-free, fireworks party at your home.

Here are some tips on how to plan and enjoy the day:

1) Put a sign on your front door that says “go around to the back”. That way, you don’t have to clean. No one is going to walk through your house to get to the backyard. A party you don’t have to clean for is the best kind of party.

2) Have a few glasses of wine, because the first point is a bit of a lie. The time will come in the evening where there will be people in every single room of your house. But if you’ve had a couple of glasses of wine, you won’t care that they see that you actually have a very messy house.

3) Tell people to bring ONE firework with them, but theirs is the one to finish the show. That way everyone brings the most amazing firework they can find and the entire show is fantastic. No little junky disappointing fireworks at my party!

4) Tell people to bring a bag of chips. Then, make chips the only food you serve. The party is at night. Everyone has had dinner. Keep it simple.

5) Delegate to a dad. We’ve got a dad in the neighbourhood who is a bit of an amateur DJ. He puts together a playlist, brings his fancy speakers, and suddenly our backyard show becomes a “symphony of fire”.

6) Don’t clean up. I let the local raccoons take care of any food that is left out. I’m a bit like Cinderella that way. The next morning put your kids and any neighbourhood kids still hanging around on the job. They can clear up drink cans and perform a general yard tidy up. The kids had loads of friends over, and part of hosting a party is cleaning up after your guests.

Do you plan on blowing things up with firework celebrations in your backyard in July? Be sure to do it safely, and if you follow these simple tips, you’ll enjoy hosting a fun and stress-free event.