And so begins the 30th edition of the most prestigious fireworks competition. Once again, it is a pleasure and an honour to meet with and interview these alchemists of fire that bring joy to the skies in Montreal each summer. Astonishing that we’re now at the thirtieth season of this most popular of summer festivals.
I met with Georg Alef, designer of this special out-of-competition opening show. It is entirely fitting that this display is not in competition. Weco, with Georg as designer, has won every possible award that the competition has (save for the Green Achievement Award, which was not in place in 2004 when they last competed). They won bronze in 1996, silver in 1997, nothing in 1998, gold in 2000 and. finally, the most prestigious Jupiter of all, platinum at the special 20th edition in 2004.
Georg Alef
Georg told me that there had been three options presented for their return to Montreal
- Opening show
- Closing show
- Full competition entry
Due to constraints with Panzera S.A.S., the only feasible option was to do the opening show, though Georg said he is thinking about competing, even when putting on “regular” displays as he is competing for the affection of the audience. He that Weco have competed (and both won and not won) at some competitions in the past ten years as it’s always good to stay up-to-date with what the best companies in the industry are doing.
The theme of this display, Dreamcatcher, first occured to Georg back in 1996 and he was very passionate in telling the story of the display, which is about a child (who has nightmares) and his father who helps him overcome these with a dreamcatcher. Georg identifies with the child in the story, with the father teaching the son to be a pyrotechnician too.
In terms of style of display, there will be both synchronized and less synchronized parts – with many elements of surprise. There will be many different set pieces and use will be made of helium balloons – a first in Montreal. Not only does Georg identify with the story, he will, together with his pyrotechnician wife Brigitte, actually be involved in the telling of the story. One incarnation of the display was performed in Cologne using 5m high puppets – but that was not feasible for Montreal. So Georg and Brigitte will perform several scenes of shadow puppetry whilst floating on the lake, illuminated by bengals and projected onto large paper screens!
The music for the theme comes from various sources, though some pieces were modified for a North American audience as people here would not be familiar with the theme tunes to German children’s TV shows. One piece of music (La valse d’Amélie – by local artist Yann Tiersen) was suggested by one of the La Ronde crew when Weco competed 10 years ago and Georg was happy to integrate it into the display. German composer Günter Hässy, who composed the entire soundtrack for Weco’s 2004 display, also has some pieces and his son, Sebastien, is co-concepter of the overall soundtrack along with Georg.
In terms of pyrotechnic material, Georg (who manages production at three of Weco’s factories in Germany) told me that they produced some very special material for the show. Lances that burn up to five minutes, special explosion and lampare effects shells and others that will surprise the audience on Saturday. Other material was specially built by Benito Pagano of Italy and there is material from San Tai, Yung Feng and various factories in Spain. There will be ten 12″ shells, twelve 10″ shells and “too many to count” 8″ shells as well as many nautical effects. Georg also mentioned a very special effect that will be used in the thunderstorm scene, but the final deployment of this was still to be determined. All five firing ramps will be used too. From his description, it will be extremely exciting for the audience!
Each different section of the display will have a unique feel and Georg said that audience reaction to the “adult dreams” segment was very positive when a similar display was shot in Cologne. Look out for some very special effects here to go along with the red and yellow colour theme!
We didn’t talk about cue counts and firing systems – but Georg did say their container was packed to the gills and that the design of the show was the final determinant of the product (and hence cue) count. He said even though he’s not competing, he was been waking up at 4:30 with “that Montreal competition feeling”. It was exciting to interview Georg and hear the passion and enthusiasm in his description of the display. The audience is certainly in for a special night this coming Saturday 29th June!
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