Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - The Christmas holidays are always an exciting time to visit Puerto Vallarta, but this year will be exceptionally entertaining as the city will play host to the 2014 International Fireworks Festival from December 20 through 31st.

In 2008, as part of Puerto Vallarta's 90th Anniversary celebration, a National Fireworks Competition turned the Puerto Vallarta Sports Stadium into a dazzling fiesta full of bright lights and colors.

Fireworks manufacturers and other members of the pyrotechnic industry from four different countries: Italy, USA, Canada and Spain; and five states of the Mexican Republic: Jalisco, Puebla, Zacatecas, Sonora and Mexico State; are expected to participate in the festival.

In addition to giving pyrotechnical showmen from around the world the chance to showcase their various disciplines and specialties, the 11 day (and night) event will deliver a variety of cultural activities, including music, dance, and art exhibitions.

Fireworks will be set off from three points: Los Muertos Pier, the Malecón, and Peninsula. The pyrotechnic displays will have Banderas Bay area-related themes, be set to music, and will last approximately 20 minutes each.

According to the Institute of Culture director, Sergio Zepeda, the municipality's representatives, hoteliers and merchants got together and agreed that there was a need for Puerto Vallarta to host a cultural and sustainable annual event, one which generate jobs and attracts tourism to the destination during the holiday season.

With a budget of more than seven million pesos, the result of that meeting was positive because, thanks to support from the Jalisco Ministry of Tourism; the National Council for Culture and the Arts; the Secretariat of Communications and Transportation; and Puerto Vallarta's Hoteliers Association and Municipal Government, the International Fireworks Festival will be held in Puerto Vallarta from December 20-31, 2014.

This magnificent event will surely be a huge tourist attraction for the entire Bahía de Banderas region and will provide Puerto Vallarta with invaluable world-wide exposure.