A spectacular pyrotechnic and light show, estimated to cost over a million dollars and using materials and technology imported from France, is ready to set an iconic skyscraper in Ho Chi Minh City “on fire” tonight – New Year’s Eve.

The 15-minute pyrotechnic and light show, which will celebrate the arrival of 2015 and mark the 40th anniversary of national reunification, will take place at midnight tonight.

Vietnam was reunified in 1975 after the fall of the U.S.-backed regime in the southern region.

Fireworks will be catapulted from the helipad on the 52nd floor and the rooftop of the Bitexco Financial Tower – a 68-story skyscraper at 45 Ngo Duc Ke Street, District 1 – as well as from the Bitexco Office Building (BOB), at 19-25 Nguyen Hue Street, District 1.    3D laser lighting systems have been installed atop the tower, the BOB building and Tan Hai Long 3 Hotel on Ho Tung Mau Street.

The 15-minute pyrotechnic show will be accompanied by sound and 3D laser performances.

The tower’s walls will feature vivid laser formations of the national flag, the Communist Party of Vietnam’s flag, late President Ho Chi Minh and the city’s icons including Nha Rong (Dragon House) Harbor in District 4, the People’s Committee mansion, Reunification Palace, and the Municipal Theater.

The fireworks display is estimated to cost US$1.5 million, Le Ton Thanh, vice director of the local Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, said in November, adding that the cost is covered by sources mobilized from society.

Spectators can get the best views of the show from the area located between the Thu Thiem Tunnel and Thu Thiem Bridge in District 2, 23-9 Park in front of Ben Thanh Market in District 1 and the area surrounding Calmette Bridge in District 4.

The Bitexco Financial Tower has been constantly illuminated since Tuesday, and the illumination will last until the pyrotechnic show begins.

The show’s co-organizers are Bitexco, Hoa Chat (Chemicals) 21 Co. under the Ministry of National Defense, and France’s Ruggier Co., which specializes in creating pyrotechnic spectacles at skyscrapers.

Ruggier has imported all the 243 barrels of fireworks, or nearly 3.8 tonnes, for the show from France.

Traffic will be banned on several streets in District 1, including Hai Trieu, Ho Tung Mau, Ngo Duc Ke, Ham Nghi, Nguyen Hue, and part of Ton Duc Thang starting at 9:00 pm on Wednesday.

Most of the show’s funding comes from social mobilization.

Another fireworks display will also be staged at Dam Sen Cultural Park at 3 Hoa Binh Street, District 11.

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