Meet the Artists 2026: Chad Flanders (Pro-Am Competitor)

2026 Pro-Am Display Competitor

Chad Flanders

From: Hickman, NE

Fourteen years into a pyro career that spans retail, wholesale, and plenty of displays, Chad Flanders has yet to compete as a pyro choreographer — until now. With limited available footage of his legendary post-demo pyromusicals, this Nebraska-based fireworks entrepreneur is the wild card of the 2026 Pro-Am field! Armed with a love of classic rock, a family crew, and a reputation for epic finales, Chad is ready to make his competition debut at Sky Wars 2026.

Chad’s pyro story:

Like a lot of pyros, Chad Flanders traces it all the way back to childhood — tearing apart fireworks and reassembling them bigger, louder, and more fun than before. The obsession never left.

When the construction market collapsed in 2008, Chad called a buddy and proposed an idea: what if they started a fireworks stand? The buddy said sure, and Black Dragon Fireworks was born in 2009. The retail business led Chad to NFA conventions, and it was there — at a Dominator display in 2011 — that the pyromusical lightbulb went off.

“We were shooting demos for our stands — and once we saw that, I’m like, that’s how we’ve got to shoot our demos from now on.”

From there it grew. Chad earned his licenses, started adding town shows to the calendar, and launched Pyro Magic Fireworks, a wholesale operation based out of Cortland, Nebraska. At their peak, he and his crew were running a heavy display schedule on top of a full retail and wholesale season. 

Chad’s path to Sky Wars:

The catch with running a fireworks business is that your busy season runs straight through the summer — after which, most pyro competitions in the country happen. For years, Chad watched the pyro competition world from a distance, too deep in the retail season to participate. “By the time it’s August, I’m done. I just want to watch.”

He attended his first Sky Wars in 2025 (a 2024 trip was sidelined by the infamous weather cancellation — Chad and his wife pivoted to South Dakota instead). One year as a spectator was all it took for him to throw his hat in the ring for the 2026 competition. 

When the good news arrived, he was in shock for a week.

Sky Wars 2026 will be Chad’s first-ever pyro competition. His Pro-Am opponents Nathan Dexter and Jacob Pierce have both competed before; Chad comes in with 14 years of display experience, no social media presence, and virtually no recent video footage online. Jacob searched and could only find one clip from years ago and came away impressed. (“Thinking about how much he’s grown in his journey since then,” Jacob said, “it’s going to be a heck of a battle.”)

What to expect from Chad’s 2026 show:

By mid-spring 2026, Chad had five potential soundtracks and a plan to get it locked in before PGI in August — after an extremely busy Fourth of July retail and wholesale season for America’s 250th celebration. No pressure.

“I work way better under pressure.”

With summer events out of the way, Chad can finally tease his Pro-Am display with confidence:

“We have all-female vocals, which is a change for me. We have a ridiculous number of single shots in our show, probably 95%, so Brian Craig should be very happy! We have a few interesting things that look great in Finale 3D. We will see how they turn out in real life.”

Chad is keeping his cue count number close to the chest, but he did tease that “it is a lot for seven and half minutes.”

As for his crew, Chad absolutely has a pyro family. His wife and daughter will be there, and his son — a welder now living in Georgia who has, in Chad’s words, developed a deep hatred of fireworks after too many late-night cleanups — is flying back to help. Some MPA club members will round out the team. They’re a tight, experienced unit, and Chad plans to do most of the prep work at home before heading to Innsbrook to minimize crunch time on-site. 

Chad’s signature pyro moves:

Chad admits that horsetail is his favorite effect — and he knows they’re everywhere. “They’re used an awful lot,” he says, “but I’m sure you’ll see them in September.” It’s a forgivable loyalty: horsetails are one of the rare effects that actually earn their quiet moments, filling soft musical passages with something worth watching.

Above everything else, though, Chad designs with the finale in mind. “You just gotta make it good, because that’s what people are gonna remember.” The beginning might land, the middle is easily forgotten, but the finale is what the crowd carries home. 

His inspiration comes largely from the pyro world he’s been embedded in for 14 years through retail, wholesale, display work, and videos from other choreographers. The demo shows he puts on through his retail business have grown from about 50 attendees to somewhere between 2,500 and 3,000 people in recent years — a crowd that’s taught him a lot about what hits and what doesn’t.

Chad’s Pyro Fast Facts:

• Firing system of choice: Mongoose (though, he used Cobra for 13 years).
• Scripting software: Finale 3D.
• Favorite effects: Horsetails.
• Finale philosophy: Make it memorable — that’s what people are going to remember!
• Sky Wars 2026 Cue count: Estimated 4,000–5,000.
• Sky Wars 2026 Lifts: More than zero!
• Sky Wars 2026 Crew size: 6 to 7, including his wife, daughter, son, and a few MPA club members.
• Proactive Pyro or Pyrocrastinator? Pyrocrastinator! He didn’t start scripting until July.
• Times attended Sky Wars: Once (2025). 2026 will be his second visit and his first as a competitor.
• Pyro shirt count: Essentially his entire wardrobe.

Chad’s favorite pyro memory:

Chad has been in the fireworks business long enough to have built two companies and turned a small product demo into an annual community event drawing thousands. Possibly his most memorable show was one he co-designed alongside his teenage son — each taking a song, then collaborating on the finale. 

“I don’t know if it was the best show we’ve ever shot. But it was probably the most memorable for me, since I was working with him.”

His son has since soured on fireworks (too many late-night cleanups). His daughter, on the other hand, has caught the pyro bug and has undoubtedly had an influence on his Sky Wars soundtrack.

Not just anyone gets the opportunity to compete at Sky Wars. Winner or not, what does this opportunity mean for you in your pyro journey?

“As long as the crowd’s happy, I don’t care if I win or lose. As long as they get what they came to see and are cheering at the end, that’s good enough for me. That’s why we do it. I don’t need a trophy. Just their voices out in the field — that’s good enough for me.”