The Pyrotechnics Guild International or PGI is an independent worldwide nonprofit organization of amateur and professional fireworks enthusiasts founded in 1969.
Vendors who are found to be exceptional are invited to display fireworks during the PGI annual convention, as well as to advertise in the quarterly bulletins.
The PGI helps channel the creative energies of talented people into the design, production and display of high quality fireworks by example of the membership and through the sharing of knowledge.
The Pyrotechnics Guild International was founded in 1969 by Max P. Vander Horck, then publisher of a monthly fireworks newsletter titled "American Pyrotechnist."
Max envisioned the establishment of an organization for fireworks enthusiasts, whose goal was not only to educate themselves regarding pyrotechnics, but the media, politicians, and public as well.
In March 1969 he announced to his subscribers that membership was available in a newly founded organization called the Pyrotechnics Guild International, and the PGI was born.