Fireworks painted the sky with bright, colorful flashes and pierced the air with loud booms while choreographed music blasted from loud speakers blaring toward a possible record-breaking crowd for Central PA 4th Fest.

The 4th Fest's fireworks show is one of the top-rated in the country according to fireworksguide.com. While the show went off flawlessly to many viewers, those in the VIP section near the Porter North parking lot saw otherwise. During the Pirates of the Caribbean theme song, a cannon fight between two light-up ships, intended to be visible only to VIPs, was supposed to occur. Regrettably, only one of the ships lit up, said Gary Mayhew, pyrotechnics chair for 4th Fest.

The force from the shells exploding caused the plug connecting to the one ship to loosen just enough to break connectivity. This was the bigger of the two ships and was supposed to "sink into the ocean" after the cannon battle.

Though the fireworks show is never executed perfectly because there are always some shells that don't go off, said Bernie Keisling, executive director of 4th Fest, the ship malfunction was the only major technical difficulty experienced. Only 18 of the about 11,000 shells did not explode, he said. Mayhew said this was a good ratio and he was pleased overall with the display.

"For the complexity and work that went into the show, I am very happy with the result," he said.

Katie Knobloch (sophomore-education) has watched the 4th Fest fireworks every year for the past 19 years and watched this year's display in the VIP section. While she did notice the pirate ship mishap, she was happy with the outcome of this year's firework display and believes it lived up to the expectations of being one of the best in the country.

"The finale is always my favorite," she said. "It always blows me away."

Knobloch said she "loved" the music, adding it had a good variety.

Music scores ranged from "Circle of Life" to "Cotton-Eye Joe" and even featured clips of John F. Kennedy and his speech to Congress about getting a man on the moon. The show was broadcast on 93.7 The Bus.

"It was an effective way of reminding people of everything our country went through," Knobloch said.

The view from the VIP section was not the only impressive vantage point. Ben Simon (senior-marketing) watched the display from a Bryce Jordan Center parking lot. He said he had a great view despite being "pretty far back" -- especially since the lights in the parking lots were shut off.

Simon also enjoyed the music, but one song stuck out for him more than the others.

"I enjoyed the Stargate theme at the beginning because it was a good instrumental piece but also because my nerd factor was off the charts," he said. "I cried a little on the inside."

Simon said he also enjoyed the fireworks, themselves, because there was a lot of everything and "it wasn't overwhelming, but it was exciting."

While there was almost no negative feedback about the overall event, Keisling said the firework display is what makes the experience memorable for most attendees.

"People are always beside themselves after they see the fireworks," he said. "They're just amazed."

Collegian Staff Writer Beth Ann Downey contributed to this report.