The essential thing to remember is that tripod (and as heavy as you have if it's windy where the fireworks are). Some tripods have that little hook on the bottom to hang your bag on for extra weight if you need it. And a remote is incredibly useful because that way you can set up your framing when the show starts and take your pictures by listening for that "woomph" noise that the fireworks make when they're being fired because that's often a really good time to open up your shutter. Too many bursts get too messy, but it's good to get a few fireworks in a single shot.
And last of all, if you can get a good background it helps. This was the best I was able to do for backgrounds at last years Guy Fawkes fireworks, I'll be on the lookout for a better background again this year.
But the lack of wind last year really caused havoc with the smoke.
Those are my tips for fireworks
