Edward Murphy is in the ooh and aah business. It’s coming to Lewiston on Monday night. His company, Blue Hill Pyro, will launch a $20,000 fireworks display over the Great Falls as part of the Liberty Festival’s Fourth of July celebration.

The average Blue Hill Pyro show in Maine runs about $3,500 to $4,000. This’ll be big.

Murphy, a vice president, said each event starts with a budget and a philosophy: Some cities want the works slow and steady for 30 minutes, others a five-minute frenzy – “They just want to completely blow up the sky.”

The local marching orders: a few corkers to grab people’s attention, plenty of bursts during the body and a crescendo for the finale, Liberty Festival President Dick Martin said.

“We never want the skies to go dark,” he added. Blue Hill Pyro has done the Liberty Festival fireworks since 1997. The company will have 10 to 15 people working the event, lighting fireworks by hand with flame from propane torches or railroad flares. The ideal weather: clear, with a 5 mph wind to blow away smoke.

Murphy said he’ll give the ground crew hundreds of fireworks shells in all sorts of shapes, sizes and colors. It’s up to them to choreograph the show, or, as he says, “work magic.”

“We ship a whole truckload of oohs and aahs in,” he quipped.

Best spots for watching the local fireworks: Veterans Memorial Park and the Longley Bridge, Martin said. But arrive well in advance of the 9:30 p.m. start.

– Kathryn Skelton