About 5,000 showed up to see the 40-minute fireworks show at Northport.

Joe Fields and Charlotte Seagar of Northport were among the Will Thomas family who had one of the closest views of the display, which was shot a few 100 yards away from their home at the end of Smith Avenue.

“It’s always great,” Fields said. “And it’s always better than you expected.”

“It’s so spectacular that you wouldn’t want to miss it once you’ve seen it,” Seagar added.

This year’s fireworks display by the Village of Northport included 24 “more bombs,” than a year ago, according to Greg King, administrative coordinator.

“My guess is 5,000 people,” King said. “They were already laying on blankets this morning.

“And now it’s jam-packed.”

King called the fireworks “the biggest show on the peninsula.”

“For a little place like Northport, this is a big thing,” said Fields, who recalled one year that a shell misfired just over his head. “Each year we keep getting better and better.”

Mike Rogers, who was one of the original fireworks guys, said the show has been going since 1976. It was postponed once, due to bad weather, and rescheduled two weeks later.

“All you have to do is watch it one time and you’ll be back,” said Hugh Cook Jr., Leelanau Township fire chief. “It goes solid color in the air for 32 minutes and they’re all happy.”