Willy Wednesday
Willy Wednesday is our biggest night of the year, and in 2026 it lands on Wednesday, July 1. Wonderfully the wildest night of the year, where we welcome one and all to go wanderin in the sky as we let the fireworks fly. It is the biggest day of the season at Willy's Works and the kickoff to summer fireworks in Northwest Indiana.
Willy Wednesday Highlights
Real faces from real Willy Wednesdays. This is what it looks like when the whole community shows up.
What Is Willy Wednesday?
Willy Wednesday has been a local holiday in Crown Point since 1982. Our annual free fireworks show started in June 1982 with about a dozen guests and a couple hundred dollars in fireworks. Today it draws thousands of guests to Hidden Lake in Merrillville for a professional fireworks demonstration and a Willy Wild grand finale.
It is our way of thanking our customers, because it is thanks to you that Willy's Works works. Expect DJs, dancing, family fun, firework safety songs and training, and of course a Willy Wonderful fireworks show that is completely free to all.
How Willy Wednesday Started
It started because Ricky Chandler, famously known as Willy, wanted everyone to be able to enjoy fireworks, even families who could not afford them. Willy came up with wacky ways for pyros of all ages to earn free fireworks. Say "Willy's Works works for me" and earn free snap pops. Kids could, and still can, come once a day, every day, and earn their snap pops.
Young pyros could write a firework poem or learn firework safety songs and willy words, wild wacky wonderful sayings like "whistlin Willy's whistle willy well," to earn a free firework lit off by Willy himself.
One day about a dozen kids rode up on bikes who were not likely to have much of a show for the Fourth of July. So Willy demonstrated what each firework did, live, lighting one of every firework off and employing the kids to help him rate them. Where there is a will, there is a way. With a little God, Guts, and Go for it, you can earn your fireworks and even make your dreams come true.
Generations of families have shopped Willy's Works and attended decades of Willy Wednesdays. It grew so renowned that we host over 3,000 guests at Hidden Lake in Merrillville for a wild, wondrous, whimsical, wonderful fireworks show. And even as it has grown into a massive professional display, it is still completely free to all. Because thanks to you, Willy's Works works. Without you we'd be Willy without works, and that willy wouldn't work well.
What to Expect
Family friendly fun, music, a DJ, dancing, and firework safety training. There is a follow along demonstration of dozens of individual fireworks so you can sample the product before the Fourth. Free entry, free parking, and free grandstand seating. Food vendors are on site for optional purchase, but plenty of guests pack a cooler and never spend a dollar.
Where: Hidden Lake, 6355 Broadway Ave, Merrillville, IN 46410
When: Wednesday, July 1, 2026. Doors at 7:00pm.
Reserve Your Fireworks Now
Willy Wednesday is also our biggest sale day of the year. Skip the lines, reserve online, and your order is held with your name on it, bagged and totaled, ready for in store pickup.
Shop Fireworks