Watch Los Angeles' Epic Panorama Of Fireworks

The big secret about Los Angeles is that the best fireworks show is not one you pay for. Although you can go to the Rose Bowl or the Coliseum and see an absolutely bang-up, officially sanctioned production, the real show is just getting started by the time the official ones end.

Sure, fireworks are technically illegal in the city of L.A. But that doesn't stop thousands of Angelenos from purchasing their own illegally imported fireworks to set off in the middle of the street in the nights (and days) leading up to July 4th. Fireworks are legal in other cities around L.A. County, but it's also not unheard of for folks to drive all the way to Nevada to grab some of the larger firecrackers California doesn't allow. On the holiday night itself, the entire Los Angeles basin erupts into a mesmerizing display of nonstop fireworks from just about every angle. The best place to watch is probably atop a Koreatown high-rise.

In case you weren't atop a high-rise, here are some videos that give you an idea of what it looked like. No word yet on how many palm trees were set on fire last night, though Angelenos in 2015 lit a total of 55.

The first video above appears to have been shot from somewhere around Mt. Wilson, about an hour's drive north of downtown Los Angeles. The videographer is Chris Pritchard, the man who makes those fantastic time-lapse videos of L.A. This next video appears to be from a Central L.A. high-rise:

East Los Angeles makes sure to put on a good show too:

FilmLA out chronicling the 'works:

And this would be cooler if it wasn't so jerky: