News : New sights, sounds and tastes at Boomtown this year

IPA members and volunteers spent Friday morning beginning Boomtown set-up.

Pyro Safari participants use 'guns' to fire Roman candles at targets.

Boomtown: IPA members try out a fireworks arcade called 'Pyro Safari' Friday evening.

Flame from a Roman candle shoots through flame from a tiki torch at the Pyro Safari.

Fried pickles: Boomtown vendors offer variety of unique food items.

Every year, the members of the Iowa Pyrotechnic Association find more ways to entertain themselves and others with fireworks.

This year, one of the new attractions at Boomtown is the Pyro Safari, an arcade game in which the contestants fire Roman candles from handmade guns at targets. If the fire from the Roman candles makes contact with the right part of the target, it ignites a larger firework display.

Roger and Angie Canny of East Moline, Ill., saw a similar event at the Pyrotechnics Guild International Convention and decided to create their own arcade.

"We tested it at a family event; it was a lot of fun," said Angie Canny on Friday night, as several IPA members tried, and a few succeeded, at hitting the targets.

The Pyro Safari will again be in action for a while on Saturday evening at Boomtown

Food variety

Meanwhile, on the other side of the grandstands, vendors offer a variety of food items. 2011 State Fair Cook-Off King Bret Richards offers his special recipes from the Smoken' on the Cedar trailer. Nearby, the Americana Concessions trailer offers a variety of fried items, including pickles. A new item there is the deep fried brat on a stick, created by Preston Taylor, who helps his parents run that trailer full-time from April though November at events all over the state, including U of Iowa home football games. Taylor said he came up with the idea for the fried brats, which he dips in funnel cake batter before placing them in the fryer.

Several other concession trailers and stands also offer a variety of food items at the fairgrounds during Boomtown.

See the Saturday evening Boomtown schedule HERE.

About Saturday's show: 1. Gates at the fairgrounds open at 4pm. 2. Parking at the fairgrounds is $10 per vehicle. 3. There are no pre-sale tickets. 4. Grandstand tickets go on sale at 4 pm and are $5 per person, all ages, for general seating. Front rows are $10 per person, all ages. 5. Its going to be loud!