WRIGHT CITY, Mo. — Thousands attended an outdoor event at a Warren County winery over the weekend.
‘Pyromania’ is one of the regions largest fireworks shows and it's held annually at Cedar Lake Cellars. Although the coronavirus pandemic has canceled many events, this show is one that still went on.
The nation’s top fireworks choreographers gathered at Pyromania to showcase their ‘concerts in the sky,’ which are artistic combinations of music and pyrotechnics. A spokesperson for the event said based upon ticket sales, they estimated that 11,000 people were in attendance.
Laura Galati lives in Ballwin and attended the event.
"I wasn’t afraid I mean our group was stuck together where we were sitting at," she said. "People weren’t standing close like they usually do and people were pretty mindful."
Galati said she felt "pretty safe" at the event.
"I think everyone stuck to their own little group and family," she added. "It was beautiful day, a great time with friends."
Chris Jackson-Wade lives in Wright City and she's been to the event before.
"Everybody kept their social distance," she said. "It’s a huge space."
She said she felt completely safe at the event.
Cedar Lake Cellars said it worked closely with the Warren County Health Department during the planning phases.
In Warren County, as of Sept. 21, there have been 473 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 323 of those people have recovered. There have been no deaths related to the virus in the county, according to the county's website.
Warren County does not have a mask mandate in place.
Photos sent in by 5 On Your Side viewers showed people in crowds waiting for the show to happen.
Full statement from Cedar Lake Cellars on Pyromania event
“Cedar Lake Cellars winery hosted the annual “Pyromania” fireworks show on September 19. The health and safety of our guests is always a top priority for Cedar Lake Cellars. The winery worked closely with the Warren County Health Department in the planning phases, and representatives of the Health Department approved all food and beverage safety precautions during an inspection on the day of the event.
Our CLC staff worked diligently keeping high-touch areas clean, disinfecting regularly during the event. Warren County does not currently have a mask mandate, but all guests were encouraged to wear masks, and free masks were available upon request at all check-in stations. All servers in the food tents wore both masks and gloves. Guests were also encouraged to socially distance, and with over 400 acres, there was enough room to do so comfortably during the event. There were extra hand-washing stations in place around the property and hundreds of containers of hand sanitizer were available for our guests. In addition, food trucks and porta-potty facilities were spread out strategically to reduce the number of people standing in close proximity.”
The spokesperson also sent photos of safety precautions that were in place.
Dr. Fred Buckhold, associate professor of internal medicine at Saint Louis University said his best advice is to avoid larger events.
"There’s still lots evidence that there’s these large events that it takes one or two people to have this," he said. "The longer you are around someone who has this, the more you are exposed to their breathing, their air circulating that area."
He said if you go to a larger event, you should wear a face mask and if the majority of people aren't wearing face masks, then walk away.
"There is no way of knowing which event is going to be safe and which one isn’t," he said.