The Beamsville resident, owner of Garden City Display Fireworks, is competing in one of the most prestigious fireworks competitions in the world -- La Ronde's L'International Des Feux Loto-Quebec -- tonight. He is representing Canada and will be going up against eight other countries during the competition, which started June 16 and ends July 31.

"This is the Olympics of fireworks for me," said Bohonos, whose company is the first Ontario fireworks company to participate in the event in its 24-year history.

Tonight's performance, at La Ronde amusement park in Montreal, is the fruition of nearly two years of work. He started the application process back in 2006 and has worked hard since then to put together the 30-minute show. He's fused together a pyrotechnic showcase that will be accompanied by 13 songs, titled Aurora -- Fire in the Sky.

"We're going to use Montreal's skyline to try and create the Northern Lights for the crowd," said Bohonos.

To do so, they use an innovative computer chip, which tells the fireworks shells when to take off and when to blast.

"It's so much more precise," he said. "It helps get that shimmering and wavy effect."

This is no backyard fireworks display. There's a pretty hefty cost attributed to exploding over 3,000 shells and utilizing more than 7,000 effects. Bohonos said putting on such an elaborate show would be in the area of $250,000.

Local residents have seen parts of the show, said Bohonos. During displays in Grimsby and Lincoln (the company does displays for Happening in the Park and Lincoln's Canada Day celebration) they have gone through trial runs of certain portions. The competition, however, will be the first time all 30 minutes of the show are exploded together.

Should Garden City win the event, there will be no cash prize to offset that. Bohonos said it's all about the recognition.

"We're going to win a gold Jupiter," he said of his hopes. "This is about the prestige and being on the world stage. It's really just showcasing my passion for fireworks."

While participating in various competitions as a technical director, Bohonos said this is the highlight for his own company, which was started more than 20 years ago. While they have captured prestigious competitions in Canada, including National Champion at Molson's Great Canadian Fireworks in 2000 and 2002, he's excited about taking it to the next stage.

"This is a goal in my life. I can't wait," he said.

"A Jupiter would be a great reward for all of our hard work," said Bohonos.