Portugal – July 13th – Macedos Pirotecnia

By pyropaul July 16th, 2023, under Reports

Tune In

Designed by Diogo Vasconcelos, Soundtrack by Diogo Vasconcelos; FireOne firing with ~3500 cues.

Summer 2023 continues to present challenges for pyrotechnicians and their audiences alike. During middle of the afternoon on display day, Environment Canada issued an unprecedented tornado warning for the island of Montreal. A “warning” means the threat has been observed, not that it might potentially happen. A couple of hours earlier, a tornado had touched down in a suburb of Ottawa, about 200km to the west of Montreal. Funnel clouds and winds of over 100km/h were observed at the west end of the island of Montreal and a tornado did touch down just off-island in Mirabel. A series of intense thunderstorms, including a supercell, swept over Montreal from around 4pm until 6:30pm. During that period, over 85mm of rainfall was recorded – pretty much the same as the average for the month of July (92mm). Many people thought it would be impossible to have a successful fireworks display that evening, but technical director of the fireworks competition, Paul Csukassy, together with his team, were well prepared. By the time 10pm arrived, we had almost perfect weather with decent winds, though a little bit too much towards the audience, but not enough to mar the display. After the presentation of the team, together with a somewhat uncoordinated and random selection of silence and the usual music, the display began on-time, with the big wheel correctly participating in the countdown this week.

The display began strongly, to the delight of the small, but enthusiastic, audience. Good use was made of the ramp 5 floating pontoons – their position quite close to the audience really adding an extra dimension. On the top of ramp 4, a large sign saying “On Air” together with a picture of a radio microphone, which was switched on during the narrative portions of the display, all whilst the fireworks and music continued. This narrative element was well-done and the soundtrack was well-mixed – much better than Macedo’s 2017 participation, where I noted the sound-editing as a weak point.

PortugalSalon

Team Macedos in the Salon des Artificiers

The first half of the display was very well done, with a good variety of effects and excellent synchronization and good use made of the display area. Pretty much all of the firing ramps worked well and it seemed the weather had only affected a very small number of items, which was quite amazing really. After this mid point, I felt the fireworks and effects became a bit repetitive, without too much variety, though I did enjoy the segment with strobing horsetails. For a few minutes between the mid-point and the final two segments, I did feel the design was not as strong as the first half of the display. The final two segments were very well done and the finale itself was very well crafted and powerful, building to a dramatic climax and ending in thunderous volleys of very large salutes. The audience jumped to their feet and gave the Portuguese team a well-deserved standing ovation. In 2017, Macedos took home the Bronze Jupiter and I think their entry this year was stronger than that award-winning one, so this augurs well for a podium position. Of course, it’s early days yet, but this was a very good display.

Comments Off

Macedos Pirotecnia Soundtrack

By pyropaul July 12th, 2023, under Soundtrack

Tune In

  1. The Swashbuckler and Fair Maiden – Future World Music
  2. Walking on Sunshine – Katrina and the Waves
  3. Bicycle Race – Queen
  4. Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now) – C+C Music Factory
  5. Better Off Alone – Alice Deejay
  6. Get the Party Started – P!nk
  7. Get Ready for This – 2 Unlimited
  8. Freestyler – Bomfunk MC’s
  9. One More Time – Daft Punk
  10. Around the World / Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger – Daft Punk
  11. Under Pressure – Queen, David Bowie
  12. Lusitana Paixão – Dulce Pontes
  13. Bacalhau à Portuguesa – Quim Barreiros
  14. Pointless – Lewis Capaldi
  15. Anti-Hero – Taylor Swift
  16. Bones – Imagine Dragons
  17. Eyes Closed – Ed Sheeran
  18. Until I Found You – Stephen Sanchez
  19. Stay – The Kid LAROI, Justin Bieber
  20. Golden Hour – JVKE
  21. Flowers – Miley Cyrus
  22. Miss You – Oliver Tree & Robin Schulz
  23. Heroica – Epic Score

Comments Off

Interview with Team Portugal

By pyropaul July 11th, 2023, under Interview

I met with Fernando Macedo, patriarch and CEO of Macedos Pirotecnia, together with Diogo Vasconcelos, who designed the show and the soundtrack. Macedos had last competed in Montreal in 2017 with a display also designed by Diogo, that had garnered them the Bronze Jupiter. [Your author was part of the team from Jubilee Fireworks of the UK that won the Gold Jupiter that same year].

Diogo said that the team had learned a lot from their Bronze-winning display and intended to put that knowledge to good effect for this year’s display. Since then, the company has competed in many festivals and competitions in places such as Brno, Czech Republic, Hannover, Germany as well as in Monaco and Spain.

PortugalShipping

UN 1.1G and UN 1.3G shipping labels

Fernando said the company had a difficult two years during the first part of the pandemic and are still having issues with manufacturing due to supply chain constraints as well as a shortage of workers for their factories in Portugal. Fernando said that about 30-35% of the products used in this week’s display are from their factories, with the balance coming from Italy and Spain (including products from Ricasa) as well as from China. He said that he would have liked to send more Macedos products but anything specially made for Montreal would not be certified for transport (so would not even make it onto the boat, even though it would be allowed into Canada under the special rules for fireworks competitions). He further said it is much harder now with the amount of paperwork required than it was in 2017, though the company were able to ship 1.1G products, though the largest calibre shells used will be 200mm (which are packaged specially as 1.3G).

Diogo said the design of the display was essentially their first one done completely with Finale3D. He said they had made quite a few video calls to Drew Espenshade, Finale3D representative in the US, in order to best work with the effects the program has included which didn’t necessarily match Macedo’s own products directly. Diogo also noted that they had been working on the design of the display from the moment they were notified in December 2022 right up until the container left the port and that they were still doing a few minor tweaks on site.

Team Portugal

Diogo Vasconcelos, Fernando & Andre Macedo, Lazaro Teixeira, Mario Sousa & Vitor Goncalves

From a technical point of view, the display is being fired using 125 32-cue FireOne modules for a total cue count of just over 3500 but Diogo noted that there would be a lot more effects than cues. This time, they will be using five pontoons forming ramp 5 as well as a special surprise on the top of ramp 4. No further details of this were given! Maximum calibre of shells will be 200mm and some of these will contain special Portuguese-style effects that were difficult to describe but involved special kind of scintillations. I had made a similar comment in 2017 too!

The theme of the display is entitled “Tune In” and represents a day listening to the radio – with different times of day having different feelings and energy levels. Diogo said the music was mixed in-house by the Macedos production team and is a much more complex soundtrack (with around 23 tracks) and has a mix of all sorts of genres including many Portuguese styles including Fado. Diogo noting that he was particularly looking forward to the Lusitana Paixão track and also mentioned a special tribute to Queen as it’s the 25th anniversary of Freddy Mercury’s death. The finale will be full of adrenaline too – with plenty of noise, in pure Portuguese style.

Comments Off

Ukraine – July 6th – Dance of Fire

By pyropaul July 8th, 2023, under Reports

Ukrainian Fire for the hearts of Canadians

Designed by Tatjana Burdiak, Soundtrack by Tetiana Kuchuhura; FireOne firing with ~3500 cues.

The 37th Edition of the Montreal International Fireworks Competition is set against the backdrop of many difficult challenges. An ongoing war in Europe, not the first one since the competition started, but the most intense for some time; immense forest fires in Canada – already 9 millions hectares burned which is 11x the the 10 year averages expected by this date; unprecedented heat – the four hottest days globally were recorded this week alone. Not only global challenges, but the first competition without Martyne Gagnon as director and the first time ever that a display was cancelled. Last week’s opening show was not held due to a forecast of poor air quality due to the ongoing fires in the north of Quebec.

All of the events and challenges above contribute to setting the expectations for the first competing show – and the first time a team from Ukraine has been invited to participate. Previously, attendees would studiously look at the weather forecasts and radar for threats from storms or wind, but now we have to look at the air quality forecast too. A participating team from a county actively at war where the supply chain is completely disrupted. Dance of Fire have competed, and won, in various competitions before, but never one where they were unable to ship products from their home country.

Canada has a special place in the Ukrainian diaspora as it is home to the second largest population of Ukrainians outside of Ukraine itself. Indeed, the team consulted with friends and family who live here on what would be good Canadian music to include in the soundtrack.

Due to the cancellation of the opening show, the season’s normal protocol was moved to this week with the president of La Ronde, Sophie Emond, essentially taking on the role previously filled by competition director Martyne Gagnon. This threw the timing off a bit as the usual pre-display music that plays after the speeches but before the fireworks starts had a couple of minutes of silence. As the countdown terminated, the lights of the Grande Roue were not extinguished for a couple of minutes. Despite extreme heat and humidity and the flicker of lightning in the distance, a few drops of rain abated and we were left with a perfect evening with good wind strength and direction, no smog and a decent sized audience, but certainly not packed. Probably the heat and humidity as well as the decision to hold the displays on Thursdays rather than the usual Saturday and or Wednesday did not help, as witnessed by the announcement in the late afternoon of tickets on sale at half price.

The display itself was enjoyable and well synchronized and the soundtrack was very well appreciated by the audience. The mix of Ukrainian songs with both English and French Canadian tunes worked very well, better than I expected. Good use was made of the floating pontoons of ramp 5, though one of them appeared to be reversed, though this did not really impact the display. As anticipated, this was a “small” show and there was not a great variety of shells seen, nor many of large calibre. However, the one-shots and candles and effects cakes were of very good quality. Despite the show being somewhat small, it did not feel sparse and so there was always plenty of action, particularly in the final two pieces, with a good finale to the music Burn It to the Ground by Nickelback. The penultimate piece, by Eurovision Song Contest winners Kalush Orchestra was also very well done. The audience enthusiastically cheered the Ukrainian team and I suspect there were many of their compatriots in the audience. This really was a very good effort by Dance of Fire under what must have been very difficult circumstances and they should be congratulated heartily!

Ukraine-Salon

Team Dance of Fire in the Salon des Artificiers

Politics is usually not part of a fireworks competition but did make a small appearance in this display, with a narration in English and French thanking the people of Canada for their support of Ukraine and a wish for victory and freedom. This is understandable due to the current circumstances, but I hope it does not become a regular feature. I expressed some disquiet a few years ago when a team competed under the China/Hong-Kong banner rather than just “China” – and we have seen cases where we had Canada/Quebec as a designation too. The good news, though, is that fireworks are a pan-cultural phenomenon and serious efforts are being made to have UNESCO declare them as intangible cultural heritage. Lets hope this succeeds and they continue to bring joy to their audiences, no matter where they are in the world.

Comments Off

Dance of Fire Soundtrack

By pyropaul July 5th, 2023, under Soundtrack

Ukrainian Fire for the hearts of Canadians

  1. Oi u luzi chervona kalyna (rock-version) – Bumboks
  2. Wild Dances – Ruslana
  3. City – ONUKA
  4. Heart of Steel – Tvorchi
  5. Shum – Go_A
  6. Ma vie – Bruno Pelletier
  7. Higher – Michael Bublé
  8. Ma faille – Céline Dion
  9. Dance Me to the End of Love – Leonard Cohen
  10. Stefania – Kalush Orchestra
  11. Burn It to the Ground – Nickelback

Comments Off

Interview with Team Ukraine

By pyropaul July 4th, 2023, under Interview

I met with Dmytro Kuchugura, Tetiana Kuchuhura, Natalia Kuchugura and Nina Kravets – representing the Ukrainian company Dance of Fire, competing in Montreal for their first time.

In many ways, this was not a normal interview as this is the first time a team from a country that’s actively at war has been invited to participate. The war actually started in 2014 with the annexation of Crimea (which had been part of Ukraine since 1995) but really intensified with the invasion of Ukraine itself in 2022. As can be imagined, the logistics of a fireworks company completely changes in such circumstances, let alone the authorizations required to even attend. Flights from Ukraine to Canada are not available so the team had to drive to Poland and then get to Vienna where they took a flight to Montreal.

The company itself, Dance of Fire, was founded by the Matriarch of the Kuchugura family, Tetiana in 2001 after buying consumer fireworks for her 17 year old daughter’s birthday party. The company expanded to include professional fireworks and organizing both traditional and pyromusical displays. They attended the 10th International Symposium on Fireworks in 2007 which was held in Montreal and asked if they could compete, citing a competition they had participated in in Crimea. They were told their information had been recorded and they would be contacted.

In the mean time, Dance of Fire competed in many festivals and competitions in both the European Union as well as Ukraine and Crimea, though the latter stopped after the annexation. Prior to this, they were producing large stadium shows of up to an hour of fireworks at various locations in Ukraine with audiences up to 12,000. Dmytro told me they had come up with this concept and it was very popular, with such themes as “Around the world in 60 minutes” or various tributes to Eurovision (Ukraine won 3 times and came second 3 times as well – their most recent win was in 2022.

As for Canada, they participated in GlobalFest in Calgary in 2018 as well as in Timmins in 2017 where they took second prize. Several participations at the Malta International Fireworks festival together with festivals in France, Germany and finally in 2019, in the UK, they won 1st Prize at the Blackpool Pyromusical World Championship. With all these competitions under their belt, together with some prizes, they were set to compete in Montreal. Competing in Europe post 2017 had become more difficult, too, as all products had to be authorized with a CE sticker for use in the European Union. Dance of Fire were importing directly from China, but not products that had the right stickers, nor for any others from the non-EU Eastern European former soviet states. So this made things more complicated, but Dance of Fire had forged strong bonds with Macedos of Portugal (who produce a huge New Year’s Eve show in Madeira every year) and even participated in a festival in Funchal. This bond would prove useful for Montreal.

Then the pandemic hit, followed by the invasion of Ukraine. Complicated times, but the bonds Dance of Fire had made during their participation in European festivals and competitions meant that they had a means to import fireworks from Europe to Canada for their participation in Montreal. Indeed, Andre Macedo is part of their crew. Dance of Fire’s arsenal, therefore, includes products from China, Portugal, Spain and Italy with Macedos providing the largest non-Chinese content, together with Parente of Italy and various companies from Spain in smaller amounts.

UkraineOneShots

One Shots for Ramp 3


The designer of the show, Tatjana Burdiak, unfortunately is not in Montreal, but she used Finale3D for the work and Dmytro told me they are firing with FireOne and using around 3700 cues with “14,000 effects”. They will be using all five ramps, with 9 floating positions on the pontoons of ramp 5, a small setup on ramp 4 (on top of the control building) as well as 9 main positions on ramp 3 with 5 supporting positions as well as five positions on ramp 2s and 1. This will be their biggest show outside of their special stadiu shows, but it is to my understanding that the logistical challenges of the ongoing war mean that it will probably be smaller than other competing shows, at least in terms of the amount of product. That said, Eric Tucker famously was able to use product judiciously so as to make a show look big and well-designed enough to win the Gold Jupiter four times in Montreal.

The soundtrack was designed and mixed by the company’s founder, Tetiana, and features a mix of popular Ukrainian and Canadian pieces. Indeed, one of the Ukrainian pieces is from the 2022 Eurovision win “Stefania” by the Kalush Orchestra.

Ukraine

Natalia, Dmytro &Tetiana Kuchuhura, Nina Kravets

Following the stresses of last week with a first-ever show cancellation due to smoke and smog from the ongoing forest fires, this week looks to be hot and humid, but with good air quality. A go/no-go decision is imminent but Dmytro is optimistic as he said he commanded todays heavy lunchtime rains to clear the air. When asked about what this show represents, he said the people of Ukraine want to sincerely thank the people of Canada for their support in the ongoing war and invite them to enjoy a spectacle of Ukrainian and Canadian music. He said he had met many Ukrainians on the streets of Montreal at the Jazz festival and they’re all extremely excited and proud that their compatriots are representing their beloved homeland.

Comments Off

Opening Show 2023 Soundtrack

By pyropaul June 28th, 2023, under Soundtrack

This is what the now cancelled opening show’s soundtrack would have been

Tribute to Boy and Girl Bands

  1. Intro – Mix:Backstreet Boys, Hanson… Spice Girls, My Girls
  2. Everybody – [Boy] – Backstreet Boys
  3. Dynamite – [Boy] – BTS
  4. Set me Free – [Girl] -Twice
  5. We are Family – [Girl] – Sister Sledge
  6. Dragostea Din Tei – [Boy] -O-Zone
  7. Lovesick Girls – [Boy] – Blackpink
  8. One Thing – [Boy] – One Direction
  9. Raide dingue de toi – [Girl] – G Squad
  10. Bootylicious -[Girl] – Destiny’s Child
  11. Work from Home – [Girl] – Fifth Harmony
  12. Wannabe – [Girl] – Spice Girls
  13. I’lI Make Love – [Boy] – Boyz 2 Men
  14. All or Nothing – [Boy] – O Town
  15. Si – [Girl] – Infiniti
  16. No Scrubs – [Girl] – TCL
  17. Larger Than Life – [Boy] – Backstreet Boys
  18. Tearing Up My Heart – [Boy] – INSYNC
  19. Step by Step – [Boy] – New Kids on the Block
  20. When I Grow – [Girl] – Pussycat Dolls
  21. Venus – [Girl] – Bananarama
  22. Glad you came – [Boy] – The Wanted
  23. What Makes You Beautiful – [Boy] – One Direction
  24. Story Of My Life – [Boy] – One Direction

Comments Off

Interview with Team Royal for the 2023 Opening Show

By pyropaul June 27th, 2023, under Interview

I met with Yanick Roy, president of  Royal Pyrotechnie, thrice winner of the Gold Jupiter in 2003, 2009 and 2014 (jointly with Fireworks Spectaculars), winner of the soundtrack Jupiter in 2009, and the designer of this out-of-competition opening show for the 37th edition of the Montréal International Fireworks Competition.

Yanick is the most awarded designer in Canada and his last appearance in Montréal was for the opening show in 2018. A lot has happened since then, including the pandemic, war in Europe and the attendant inflation crisis as well as numerous supply chain issues that also affected the price and availability of products from China especially. Royal had acquired Quebec-based FAE in 2018 and had one of their best years ever in 2019. 2020 was a different story. Suddenly there were no more shows. Yanick had the idea, together with three or four colleagues, to put their efforts towards making portable hand sanitization stations. He said that this really helped sustain the company through the worst early days of the pandemic. Then, in 2021, they had the idea of doing special covid-safe shows where they would choose several secret sites (as many as five or six) in a town or city and then these would be only “announced” a few minutes before the show by the firing of warning shots. Of course, the residents of the town knew there would be fireworks, just not where. The first place they did this was Granby, in the Eastern Townships area of Quebec. It was a great success so they replicated the idea in other locales such as Cowansville, Gatineau and other cities. One of the challenges of these shows was getting enough crew due to the multiple simultaneous sites.

Last year, 2022, proved to be one of Royal Pyrotechnie’s best years ever. They made it through the pandemic, but everything is not like it was. Shipping costs increased across the board as did product prices, no matter whether they were imported from Europe or Asia. A big challenge now is getting enough staff as the pandemic changed the outlook of what a lot of people do for a living. Now, in 2023, a new threat has appeared. Previously, there were two main reasons a show might be cancelled – an order from SOPFEU (the forest fire prevention agency) or the forecast of bad weather. Now there’s a third and much more unpredictable threat: unhealthy air quality due to the vast numbers of forest fires. The issues isn’t the fireworks adds to the smoke – the amount produced in a typical display is minuscule anyway (plus it only is present for a few tens of minutes) – the problem is that the public health agencies can shut down outside events due to the unhealthy air quality. Due to the nature of such large events as the fireworks competition, it’s impossible to reschedule them as the police and all the other public agencies involved are scheduled months in advance. Yanick told me that around the St-Jean Baptiste holiday of June 24th he had displays cancelled or postponed for all three reasons. One that was rescheduled due to rain was cancelled the next day due to bad air quality. At the time of writing this report, this threat is looming for this opening display. Montreal had terrible air quality on Sunday but is currently good again – but the wind directions are fickle and it can change in a short time. A final decision will be made 24 hours in advance. Let’s hope the forecast remains favourable. Other issues that are starting to surface are due to the media overplaying the impact fireworks have on the environment. Almost all large festivals across the world incorporate fireworks, but the impact of the attendees themselves massively dwarves any impact the fireworks themselves have. Unfortunately, this fact is often missing in the discussion. At the recent International Symposium on Fireworks, held in Malta this past April, there was much discussion on having UNESCO declare fireworks and “intangible cultural heritage” and so rightly protect them like any other piece of heritage.

Yanick Roy

Yanick Roy with a selection of cakes

So the display! Like Yanick’s previous opening display in 2018, the theme was selected by the organizers as well as a list of pieces of music to choose from. As the theme is “A Tribute to Boy and Girl Bands”, multiple pieces for many different groups were on the list. Yanick said it was a fun challenge to come up with the final montage that would be captivating for the audience without a repetitive feel. He enlisted the help of producer Carl Müren of Productions Point A to help with the mixing as well as adding some extra oomph from him playing percussion! The final soundtrack has twenty three segments! In terms of pyrotechnic design, the display will not be using the floating pontoons of ramp 5 as Yanick felt they didn’t add enough for this kind of out-of-competition display for the setup time that would be involved. The script was carefully designed to optimize the number of firing modules required as this is Royal’s busiest season and they did many displays last weekend with many more for the upcoming Canada Day celebrations this coming weekend. The cue count is a little bit over 2500 – so there’s actually more than the display in 2018. Yanick said they have lots of exciting new one-shot and slice-cake products this time as well as some new shell types. Fans of large shells will not be disappointed as there are many in the 200 and 250mm calibre being used! Let’s hope the weather cooperates and we have a warm and healthy evening for the inaugural display of the 2023 competition!

Comments Off

Competition Director Martyne Gagnon Retires

By pyropaul August 6th, 2022, under Interview, Press release

The end of an era.

August 26th 2022 will mark the end of an era for the Montreal International Fireworks Competition as its director since November 1997, Martyne Gagnon, will retire. In tandem with Paul Csukassy, the competition’s technical director, her record of achievements include 208 official shows of the Montreal International Fireworks Competition, as well as a number of other pyrotechnic events, including the spectacular extravaganza held on Mont Royal to mark the Millennium celebrations for the year 2000. She also played a key role in the organization of the 10th International Symposium on Fireworks which took place October 15-19th 2007 in Montréal.

Martyne Gagnon

Martyne Gagnon, retiring director

To mark this occasion, montreal-fireworks.com spent some time with Martyne to get her thoughts from her time at the helm of the most important fireworks competition. The interview was held on the morning of Saturday, July 30th at La Ronde, one week before the closing show of the 2022 season. She discussed her early days in the competition, her mentors, the life of the competition director, changes through the years, as well as the future.

The early days

montreal-fireworks [MF] You came from a background in tourism. What was your first position at La Ronde?

When I started in 1996, on 15th of July, I was in customer services, but on the island, not at La Ronde, because at that time it was Société du Parc des Îles. So I was more on the other side of Notre-Dame island. I had signage, parking, and customer services at the time. But I’m coming from 19 years in tourism.

[MF] Can you describe your being put in charge of the fireworks?

In 1997 they reorganized the company and they told me that I will have shows and also they told me I would take care of the fireworks. I was really surprised! After only one year there, the fireworks! So when they proposed that to me, of course I was excited, but I was a little bit worried as well. I said to them, I need help. I need someone to train me. I knew this was an event in good health. It was, as we say in French, un événement sain, that means that it’s a popular event that goes very well, that people are excited to see. They just said to me: “You have a technical director.” It was strange because I didn’t have much time with [the previous director] so I felt that I have to find out by myself, by reading the boxes of the archives and learn by myself. You know, it was stressful. Maybe not the first year, as the calendar and the firms were already selected by Giovanni [Panzera].

In January I didn’t have that technical director anymore. I can judge many things about a person, the initiative side of a person, but not their pyrotechnic knowledge. So my boss at the time, Marcel Caron, had a good idea. He said we will ask Jean Bissonnette who was a former explosives inspector from Natural Resources Canada [and one of the people involved with starting the competition in 1985] to help interview candidates with you. It was decided there would be two people from outside and two people from inside [interviewed] Our choice was Paul Csukassy [who was on the original overnight clean-up crew from 1985-1990 before being hired as a pyrotechnic assistant by La Ronde in 1990]. So I’ve been working with him since 1998.

Transition, Mentors and the International Symposium

[MF] I suppose you were lucky that Giovanni was still alive and involved at the time you took over as director

When I started in 1998, the choices [of the participants] were already done. So he gave it to me and then we started. But I had a lot to learn, Paul, also had a lot to learn. He had the knowledge, but he didn’t know what in the office he would have to do.

[MF] So it was very short transition really?

It took one year to get used to everything. At the time I had the fireworks, but I also had everything else. So I said to them, it’s very strange to go from a mortar to parking signage. And then it was too much! If they wanted to develop the show part or the animation part of my department, I had to be really concentrated on that. So as I said, I can’t do everything at the same time! So we started and I could see myself as a sponge because to take all the information that’s not written anywhere, even to become a pyrotechnician.

[MF] How did you learn what you needed for your role?

For my education to see what’s done it was from people coming over here. I remember in Valencia [at the Symposium], we went to a demonstration of pieces. I was sat behind Georg Alef [of Weco] and he’s a teacher, he’s a teacher! He could tell me, okay this was that. And he would describe every piece because they go one by one as it’s like a product demo. I followed him during all the symposium whenever we had a fireworks show in the evening there.

I would say that when I tell you that I’m sponge I was listening when I was going to the symposium. I knew that someone was there from San Sebastian. So I discovered that it was a traditional competition, but a very old competition.

It was at the beginning. That’s how I learned also, because I was also working when we have a pyjama-day fireworks. I was working on the site, not during the competition, but I did three to four of those fireworks.

Life as the Competition Director

[MF] During your time as director, you raised two children. Was it difficult for you and your family to have you so occupied during the peak of summer?

I’ve been working here 27 years and 19 years at the Olympic park. I remember that my daughter, Émilie was five and my son Olivier was around three and I was feeling a little bit guilty. So I asked them the question, do you like that your mother works at La Ronde and that I work a lot and I’m not always here for you? “Maman! Tu travailles à La Ronde! On va te voir tous les jours de feux! Tout va bien!” ["Mom! You work at La Ronde! We'll see you every day of the fireworks Everything is fine!"]
My heart was feeling better!  Later on they were volunteers at the event!

[MF] Which countries have you traveled to in your role as Competition Director?

Only the symposium! After Six Flags took over La Ronde sometimes they did not encourage people to travel too much. The one [country] I went to is when they had the homage to Panzera. We did  one here [at La Ronde]  they did one in Geneva and they did one in Cannes. So I went to Cannes. What’s funny about that is that I was sitting with the organizer Mario Igual and the technical director.  And all of a sudden I heard “Il y a un problème” [There's a problem] on the walkie-talkie! And I stood up and Mario said to me, “it’s not your place, it’s not your event”. It was funny!

[MF] How did you get information about how other international competitions are organized?

I do as everybody does, I search through the internet! Cannes, when I was there, I took information on that. And then I heard about the Pyronale. I heard about all the other competitions but it was from people who went there. As you know, Panzera, they do a lot of shows in Dubai and everywhere. So at the same time they participate in many competitions. So I was like, “Maria Grazia: Give me some information about that.” [Maria Grazia Gerbaudo is Panzera's export director and is closely involved in the Montreal competition]. Even if it’s confidential, sometimes they were sending me the contracts because they knew I would only look at it for myself.

Changes through the years

[MF] There’s been a lot of change over these past 25 years going from a public corporation through to a private corporation and different sponsors. How did you manage all those big changes without having any visible impact on the competition?

Everything happened  in 2000, I believe. For one year we didn’t have any name anymore! We had a transition period at the time it was with the SÉMIQ [Société des événements majeurs internationaux du Québec - an organization to help move away from tobacco sponsorship]. We thought at the time that we would not find an only sponsor and that there will be, we say a “multi-pluralité” so many  sponsors were what we would  get used to. Then the  SAQ [Société des alcools du Québec] was interested. There were changes as the  SAQ was more towards events with food and drink. So they were supposed to be with us for five years, but Loto-Québec took the fifth year of the sponsorship and have been with us ever since.  I had access to  studies they did as to  why the fireworks? It’s  because  it’s a gathering event. You can pay if you want, but  you can see it free. There’s so many people that are seeing the fireworks from everywhere, that’s the part that made them the title sponsor.

[MF] As a woman, how would you describe the challenges for women who are interested in the pyrotechnic industry?

I believe that we have a good example here because  of our pyrotechnicians. The ladies  work as much as the guys and  they can be part of it.  When I arrived, it was only men, men everywhere in the local crew and in the  competing crews. And it slowly becomes better. The Koreans, they had a lady [Helen Ong]. This year Hungary – that’s a woman [Anikó Tóthné Seres] that did the design of this show.  I’m very happy about that. I’m very happy because  I like it better. We can bring everyone. And it’s different climate.

[MF]  I think also with Maria Grazia taking over from Giovanni Panzera. That was a very positive move.

You know when Mr. Panzera died, previously sometimes we could make recommendation like Portugal – when they came before Giovanni Panzera was not happy with the display. So they were never invited. So I said, in Montreal, we have a big Portuguese community. Don’t tell me there’s not one firm now that would not be able to come in Montreal. And so he did invite a firm he … he was smiling and said “Martyne wanted Portuguese firm”, you know, things like that. So it’s good to have both. And to me that’s very important because I’ve been working also as a director at the Olympic park. There were not that many women. In a directors group, it’s always more men.

Achievements and the future

[MF] When you think about all the things you have done during your directorship, is there a particular achievement you are especially proud of?

To be able to select the firms because as you know, it was Mr. Panzera previously. I knew nothing at the time but with the symposium, I was learning more and more. Now I can tell you who’s ready to come in Montreal and who’s not ready – who has a “few classes to do”. While I’m being really modest, it’s in an important competition and we call it “The Olympic Games” – but if we would let a firm that will do a bad display, it’s not only not good for us, but also for the firm, well everybody will hear about that!

[MF] So can you elaborate on the preparation process to compete in Montreal?

I look at what it is that does not prepare a firm to come to Montreal and we let them wait and we follow them. When they come to visit the [firing] ramps I say send me where they are or sometimes I can send Maria as a spy as she knows a lot of people. We did that with some firm, but I won’t tell the name! but we did that. For Croatia [competing this year] I think it’s okay to speak about it, because that is so funny. We’ve been meeting him in a symposium, meeting him in a second symposium. He sent [his son] Nikola to visit the ramps. And once Franjo did ask me “Martyne, we did what you ask for. Why don’t you invite us?” And I said “Because you are doing only national competitions. When you go abroad, I’ll be glad to invite you”. And that took a lot of years! Sometimes people were invited because they were recommended by Georg Alef. He told me “invite Jupiter, Jupiter from Argentina”. [MF: and they won the Gold Jupiter for their first participation!] I have enough confidence in him  when he say “these are the people”.  When he called me, he said ” you know, Martyne, that I will never refer you someone who’s not able to come to Montreal and if I do, my name is behind that”. [MF So it sounds like Georg is a very special friend, both to you and the competition] - yes!

I also never found the good diplomatic way to say “no!” you’re not ready because they’re all telling me “oh, we are good”.

[MF] Will we see you as a bénévole serving drinks in the Salon des artificiers next year?

Good idea. I don’t know. [MF You don't know yet?] I don’t know. Maybe, I don’t know. Maybe I will spend the first year [next summer] to look at the fireworks and be spectator at La Ronde. And probably the year after elsewhere. I learned now it’s unbelievable that the Jacques-Cartier bridge corporation announced on Facebook that people should come onto the bridge. I was told that they were nearly 40,000 people!

[MF] Will you be writing a memoir?

Oh, a memoir ? Maybe, I don’t know ! I have the plan to go to Italy in September. But other than that, I know what I didn’t do during the summer. So there’ll be a year to myself to rediscover and put me in good shape. I used to do lots of exercise. I would like to be a bird, to go from places to places. So I will come back. And of course, I’m a little emotional about quitting, but I know fireworks will always be around me. And then, I will have time to grow flowers that resemble fireworks and take pictures of them!

[MF] Martyne thank you so much for the time this morning. I know it’s a busy time now and we really, really appreciate you spending the time with us today.

Martyne Gagnon Aug 1 2022

Martyne Gagnon Aug 1 2022 - Ramp 4

Testimonials

Georg Alef – Chief Designer Weco Pyrotechnische Fabrik GMBH – Germany

When I think of Martyne , the first thing that comes to mind is her bright, warm-hearted smile! This was also what I was looking forward to most when I set off with the WECO fireworks team towards Montréal. Especially her authentic, people-oriented charisma made us pyrotechnicians from all over the world feel at home in Montréal La Ronde.I believe that, if Martyne had not become the director of the Montréal Fireworks Festival, she would have become a Canadian ambassador. She showed extreme diplomatic skills in many situations, both in dealing with the many international fireworks teams and internally with the Montréal fireworks team. Together with Paul Csukassy, she enthusiastically presented your fireworks competition at the many international symposia around the world and made it what it still is today: the unofficial world championship of pyrotechnicians. Or as the legendary Giovanni Panzera once said, Montréal is the University of Fireworks!

Martyne Georg Paul

Martyne, Georg Alef, Paul Csukassy - Naples 2000

It takes a great deal of perseverance to keep this competition going for so many years, sometimes against a lot of internal and external resistance, but also to lead the competition to its peak through clever changes.

If I were to write a book about my life as a pyrotechnician, I would dedicate a chapter to Martyne and the Montréal fireworks team. And if I had learned a little earlier of her decision to end her career and retire with the last fireworks display of this season, I would be in Montréal now. But that’s how Martyne is, as far as her person is concerned! Modest!

I can only hope and wish that we will meet again at the upcoming symposium in Malta to fight together for the preservation of the fireworks culture.

For me she is and remains the “great woman of fireworks”!

Ettore Contestabile – Explosives Board Natural Resources Canada – Canada

During her employment by LaRonde, Martyne has been instrumental in nurturing and expanding the stature and influence of the Montreal Fireworks Competition. It has been due to her consistent efforts for perfection that members of the fireworks industry strive to compete and win a podium position (a “Jupiter”) at the most exclusive competition in the world, the Montreal Fireworks Competition.We have had the good fortune to have had Martyne support the International Symposium on Fireworks (ISF) via, paper submission to the ISF Proceedings, making presentations of those papers, heading moderated sessions on the delivery of the World’s best Fireworks Competition, acting as Session Chairperson, and even as a Technical Co-Chair when the ISF returned to Montreal for its 10th anniversary in 2007. It has been an incredible journey for her as a “teacher” and the ISF registrants as students.Many of the ISF registrants took the opportunity to learn from Martyne and to discuss what would be required to compete in Montreal at the Fireworks Competition. Of course, Martyne benefitted from attending an ISF since she would be presented by a host of fireworks professionals from which she could choose the very best for her Competition.

Martyne & Ettore

Martyne & Ettore - Berlin Symposium 2006

In 2013 I had the opportunity to travel with Martyne to Macau to a closed session of the CIFAM Forum, as guests of the Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO). This was the 25th Anniversary of the Macau International Fireworks Display Contest and Martyne correctly predicted the winner! The Forum was held with a selected group of speakers and attendees and as usual, Martyne wowed the audience.

A couple of notes of interest are the following.

  • For some reason both Martyne and Maria Grazia, missed a presentation by a National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), Fireworks Code, Technical Committee Leader, at the 8th ISF, (April 18-22, 2005), in Shiga, Japan. The presentation was on the Station Nightclub Fire, that was supposedly caused by the use of indoor pyrotechnics and where many people lost their lives. Martyne was so adamant to learn from the NFPA Leader of the Station Nightclub Fire that I had to arrange a private presentation of the topic for her and a few others. This is unheard of in Conferences, but it simply indicates the close “family” that the ISF nurtures and the important stature that Martyne holds with the fireworks community.
  • My wife and I ran into Martyne at the airport, on her way to the 11th ISF, (April 20-24, 2009) in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. As usual, she had brilliant “fireworks hair”. How appropriate! She seemed very concerned at the time about the situation that was taking place in Montreal regarding claims that the competition Fireworks Displays were producing excessive pollution. She pulled out papers with data from the various monitoring stations located in Montreal, but it seemed that the so-called pollution peaked during a Display but within hours, subsided, especially that of the air quality. The data of the effect to the water was minimal and also diminished back to “normal” within a few hours. No big deal and our discussion at the time, appeased her, somewhat. We further discussed this data at the ISF but then afterwards, this concern seemed to have disappeared, only now, unfortunately, it appears to be surfacing again.

Martin Hildeberg – Manager / Display Designer – Göteborgs FyrverkeriFabrik AB Sweden

Martin Hildeberg (c)

“My participations in Montreal have been highlights in my career, hard work for sure, but also great experiences. Meeting Martyne was surely one of them! I cannot imagine the competition without her”

The Foti  Family – Foti’s International Fireworks – Australia

The beauty of fireworks is its capacity to draw people from all generations, genders, cultures and walks of life together as one. It brings out the child in all of us. Montreal’s L’International des Feux Loto-Québec is the epitome this quality. However it is not just the audience that comes together as a community. Throughout the history of this event a broad church of pyrotechnicians gather annually in Montreal to share their art. For 25 years Martyne Gagnon has been the anchor for this international band of pyro sisters and brothers. Events don’t run themselves and the professionalism of the L’International des Feux Loto-Québec organisation goes without saying. However it is the warmth and generosity of spirit that Martyne exudes that is reflected in the whole team in Montreal. It is this quality that equally, if not more than the production quality, that has built and enhanced the reputation of the L’International des Feux Loto-Québec competition.

The Foti family and our whole team from Australia wish Martyne all the best for her retirement and know that her legacy will continue on in the crew of L’International des Feux Loto-Québec.

Stephen Pelkey – CEO & Artistic Director – Atlas PyroVision Entertainment USA

MelanieSteven

Martyne Gagnon (4l) Melanie Cagnon (5l) Barbara & Stephen Pelkie (6,7l)

“It has been an honor and privilege to know and work with Martyne over the last 20 plus years.  She has been a very gracious and welcoming host when our teams have attended or competed at LaRonde.  Martyne’s love for pyrotechnics and admiration for pyrotechnicians will always be remembered by each of us that have had the pleasure of being her colleague and friend.”

Melanie Cagnon – Co-founder – Ignitionconcept Portugal

“Martyne was and will always be an inspiration for me. Her passion, professionalism, and integrity have coloured my professional and personal lives, and have inspired my choices as a manager, a women, and a mom. This is for sure one of the encounters that changed my life. My fireworks era started in 2000 as staff at La Ronde. And 20 years later, we won a gold Jupiter there – all with Martyne by my side”

Eric Tucker – 6-times Gold Jupiter Winner – USA

“For me The Montreal Competition from Giovani Panzera forward was the seminal point of change for how I viewed and proceeded within the Fireworks industry.

Eric and Paul

Eric Tucker and Paul Marriott 1998

It changed everything. Martyne Gagnon was there with open arms and no judgement to help guide and encourage. Where Giovani shoved, Martyne nudged us all to take risks that in the end was what moved us all forward. We found ourselves suddenly painting and telling musical stories with fireworks – a surprise to us all. Martyne constructed a platform for us that was a safe place to take creative risks. Professional to a fault, but the smile and sparkle of the eyes always gave her away as one of us. Thank you Mon Ami for all that you have done for all of us.”

Stephen & Rocco Vitale – Pyrotecnico – USA

Martyne,Thank your for your tireless dedication to the art of Fireworks. Not only did you help create the Greatest Fireworks Competition in the World but you created a place where Pyrotechnicians from across the Globe were always welcome. La Ronde has always been to place to see familiar faces in the industry & meet new ones. We wish you best with your retirement.

All the best,

Stephen & Rocco Vitale & everyone at Pyrotecnico

Michael Jones – The Pyro Studio Ltd. – UK

Martyne created for pyrotechnicians from all over the world and diverse cultures, an internationally renowned theatrical space in which to perform their art. She and Paul led the way in treating firework artists as artists, championing originality, dedication and vitality.

They treated the medium of fireworks with the same reverence as other performing arts. They created a team and firing set up that enabled creative minds to express themselves in a place where they knew they had technical and emotional backup when they challenged themselves.

Pains Fireworks 2007

Pains Fireworks and La Ronde crew 2007

A place where commercial pressures were left behind and the firework artist was the head of the creative tree, with sound and light and performance woven into their narrative, rather than vice versa. Martyne fought to keep this festival of fireworks viable and vibrant in times of budgetary pressure and corporate disinterest. She won through because she believed in what we do and what is possible when chemical energy, great craftsmanship, imagination and music come together.

I am sure like many others I have had the most personally rewarding experience of my life in fireworks under Martyne’s care at La Ronde and I believe it continues to be the pinnacle of international pyromusical art. Thank you Martyne for keeping the faith and protecting and invigorating an organization that continues to enable those dedicated to firework art to open their imagination to a greater audience.

Thank you mostly for caring.

Maria Grazia Gerbaudo – Chief Sales Officer – Panzera SRL Italy

Great friend, amazing partner, enjoy your retirement but we will miss you terribly, what will we do without you?
Martyne Gagnon & Maria Grazia Gerbaudo

Martyne Gagnon & Maria Grazia Gerbaudo

Paul Csukassy – Technical Director – La Ronde Canada

Testimonials – awards received

  • Georg Alef – Chief Designer Weco Pyrotechnische Fabrik GMBH – Germany
    • Bronze Jupiter 1996
    • Silver Jupiter 1997
    • Gold Jupiter 2000
    • Platinum Jupiter 2004 20th edition
  • Eric Tucker – various companies – USA
    • Gold Jupiter 1991 (Pyrodyne)
    • Gold Jupiter 1992 (Sunny International)
    • Gold Jupiter 1994 (PPA)
    • Gold Jupiter 1996 (PPA)
    • Gold Jupiter 1998 (PPA)
    • Gold Jupiter 1999 (PPA)
    • Special Mention 2004 20th edition
  • Stephen and Rocco Vitale – Pyrotecnico – USA
    • Gold Jupiter 2008
    • Bronze Jupiter 2018
  • Melanie Cagnon – various companies – Portugal
    • Silver Jupiter 2012 (Grupo Luso)
    • Gold Jupiter 2019 (Grupo Luso)
  • Stephen Pelkie – Atlas Pyrovision Productions – USA
    • Gold Jupiter 2012
    • Bronze Jupiter 2019
  • Michael Jones – The Pyro Studio Ltd. – UK
    • Gold Jupiter 20007 (Pains Fireworks)
  • Martin Hildeberg Manager / Display Designer – Göteborgs FyrverkeriFabrik AB Sweden
    • Silver Jupiter 2010
    • Silver Jupiter 2016
  • The Foti Family  - Foti’s International Fireworks – Australia
    • Silver Jupiter 2001
    • Bronze Jupiter 2006
    • Silver Jupiter 2014
Martyne and Bob Burch - August 2017

Martyne and Bob Burch - August 2017

Martyne and Maria-Grazia Japan 2005

Martyne and Maria-Grazia Japan 2005

Martyne LaRonde 2000

Martyne LaRonde 2000

2 Comments

Rozzi / Panzera Soundtrack

By pyropaul August 4th, 2022, under Soundtrack

Tribute to Genesis

Pyrotechnic firms Panzera and Rozzi’s Famous Fireworks have combined their talents to present this year’s Finale des Étoiles Loto-Québec. Their dazzling display will pay tribute to legendary rock band Genesis, whose original frontman Peter Gabriel was later replaced by drummer/singer Phil Collins. The show will feature mesmerizing fireworks that will delight music fans and spectators alike to the rhythm and melodies of songs like Turn It on Again, Abacab, Dance on a Volcano, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, Invisible Touch, and much more.

Panzera – Rozzi’s Famous Fireworks

Founded in 1895 by Paolo Rozzi, Rozzi’s Famous Fireworks is a family business renowned for its breathtaking displays and thunderous finales. Rozzi’s Famous Fireworks has participated in the competition six times and won the Silver Jupiter in 1992 and 2005.
Panzera is a family business founded in Italy at the beginning of the 20th century. Maestro Giovanni Panzera also served as Artistic Director for L’International des Feux Loto-Québec from 1987 to 2000.

Title Album Year
Turn It On Again Duke 1980
Home by the Sea Genesis 1983
Snowbound and then they were three… 1978
Dance on a Volcano A Trick of the Tail 1976
Carpet Crawlers The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway 1974
The Cinema Show Selling England by the Pound 1973
Firth of Fifth Selling England by the Pound 1973
Abacab Abacab 1981
No Reply at All Abacab 1981
Abacab Abacab 1981
The Cinema Show Selling England by the Pound 1973
Mama Genesis 1983
Entangled A Trick of the Tail 1976
Land of Confusion Invisible Touch 1986
Hold on My Heart We Can’t Dance 1991
The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway 1974
Ripples A Trick of the Tail 1976
No Son of Mine We Can’t Dance 1991
The Fountain of Salmacis Nursery Cryme 1971
Invisible Touch Invisible Touch 1986

Comments Off

Interview with Team Rozzi/Panzera

By pyropaul August 4th, 2022, under Interview

I met with Michael Lutz, designer for Rozzi’s Famous Fireworks together with Paul Csukassy, Technical Director of the competition and the designer of the soundtrack for this special out-of-competition closing show as well as Maria-Grazia Gerbaudo, Panzera’s Export Director.

As with other shows this year, originally this Tribute to Genesis display had been planned for the 2020 season. Paul Csukassy had started working on the soundtrack in December 2019 and had finished it by February 2020, doing the final mixing at Studio Piccolo as usual. The 2020 season was cancelled and there was hope this display would be fired in 2021, but that wasn’t to be the case so Michael started work on it in spring of this year.

Thanks to the reverberations caused by the ongoing pandemic, it was not trivial for Rozzi to receive their containers of products as normal, Michael noting that everything they required for their usual 4th July rush was not received in time. Fortunately, the container of Panzera products, used in this display did arrive, but with a greatly increase costs compared to pre-pandemic times.

Michael said he’s a Genesis fan but without the deep knowledge of the band that Paul has. He normally formulates the overall design of a display before completing the soundtrack so these special closing shows where the soundtrack is already design represent a different way of working. He said that the music of Genesis is more symphonic than the usual rock-and-roll so this presented its own challenges when he designed this show, though he did enjoy doing it immensely. Of course, the show is also the chance for Panzera to showcase their new products – and the evolution to more environmentally friendly formulae and packing is an ongoing effort in the company. Maria-Grazia explained that they have three chemists working on new formulations and that now their products are 90% perchlorate-free. Also, they have moved to producing one-shots that are low smoke (due to using sulphur-free blackpowder) and that produce no waste on-site. In the past, one-shots would typically leave a lot of paper or plastic residues on-site after firing. For shells, now more than 90% of their products use only cardboard in their construction.

On the technical side, the display will use all the ramps – Michael particularly enjoying using ramp 5 and will feature around 4800 cues and over 5500 products. Michael said there will be a lot of 150mm shells and there will be around 10 300mm, and quite a few in the 200mm and 250mm calibre. Of course, Panzera are renowned for their cylinder shells and many of these are in the 150mm calibre but are much larger than a 300mm spherical shell. There will be some special ghost-effect shells used in the display with four colours as well as a special type of star-headed timed-salute shell called a truenetti.

Michael Lutz and Paul Csukassy

Michael Lutz(l) and Paul Csukassy(r)

Paul talked about his choice of bands for the closing show soundtrack and said he liked to go for groups that are essentially timeless and appeal to all generations. These have included the likes of Elton John, Madonna, Pink Floyd, and U2. For this soundtrack, there are twenty pieces, but some of the segments are quite short. He said that most of the montage was done before going to the studio, but they helped make the transitions perfect with the correct alignment of beats from the corresponding measures of the pieces. Paul said some of the links between pieces are as short as twenty seconds to give a flavour but without becoming too epic in sound. He said that he avoided discussing with Michael what the pyrotechnic realization will be as he wants it to be a surprise on the night. Paul was actually in a band in the 1980s and his musical focus was evident in the way he designed the sound track.

Comments Off

England – 3rd August – Pyrotex Fireworx

By pyropaul August 4th, 2022, under Reports

60 Years of Unforgettable Music

Designed by Mark Kelsall; 6702 cues with FireOne firing.

This final competing display in the 36th edition of the Montreal International Fireworks Competition was both highly anticipated and blessed with the best summer evening of the competition so far. Pleasantly warm temperatures and ideal wind speeds and direction were the backdrop for this display which was touted to be the largest of the competition this year, possibly the largest in some years.

The soundtrack promised a selection of popular and well-known music spanning the decades from the 1960s up until the 2010s, though with no overall thematic connection between the tracks. After the usual countdown, we were given a presentation by a narrator introducing the company and the theme of the display. Unusually, this was done entirely in English, both at the start and the narrations that punctuated the transitions between the decades in the theme. I always find displays that start with black sky while there’s an initial narration engender a feeling of anticlimax – anyone who has been at La Ronde before should understand just how much anticipation Michel Laroix’s inimitable countdown from 10 is, so it’s a brave move to not start with something firing.

Once the display got going, it was immediately evident how many bright and colourful products were setup on ramp 3, but in terms of one-shots as well as in “slice” and other fast-firing cakes. Note-synchronized one-shot sequences ran back and forth across ramp 3 in an impressive way. This type of firing was used throughout most of the show – fast sequences of comets/one-shots and fan cakes, often with brilliant products, particularly the multi-colour changing mines with dazzling stars. These were augmented by short duration gerbs on ramp 5 as well as horizontal firing sequences of gerbs across ramp 3 and the use of flash pots on both ramps 3 and 5. Some excellent “laser” comet one-shots (where bright stars suddenly extinguish, given the effect of a laser beam) were also used. The main problem I found, however, was that these low-level sequences, as impressive as they appeared, where rarely supported by anything other than 3-5 relatively small calibre shells above. For most of the 32 minutes of the display, it was largely a low-level one-shot-and-slice-cake display. We did get some special effects in the form of sequenced star shots spelling out 60, 70, 80, 90, 00, and 10 for the decades of the theme as well as letter racks spelling out NOW during the Faded segment as well as hearts during Total Eclipse of the Heart.

Most of the show was focussed on the low-level sequence but we did have a finale-like sequence during Coldplay’s Fix You, which I enjoyed as it broke the monotony of the firing patterns that had been used so far. Then the announcer stated we had reached the final track with Andrea Bocelli’s Time To Say Goodbye – even though the published soundtrack indicated more music to follow. It was, indeed, an intense faux-finale, with sky filling thunderous volleys of gold kamuros. This was followed by a serene segment for God Save the Queen, with the only nautical products of the entire display consisting of some flares on the lake. Then a mix of some James Bond music and a transition into Paul McCartney’s Live and Let Die, which presented a similar style of finale to the Bocelli segment, but with crackling gold comets instead of kamuros and augmented by fan cakes of salutes below and some thunderous ground salutes suspended above the water on ramp 3.

The audience clearly loved this display and had cheered along at various points throughout and after the two finales. Unfortunately, I did not share their enthusiasm as I felt the display had been unbalanced throughout with very little interplay between the levels, repetition of firing patterns with weak shell support above (and repetition of the types of shells used). Synchronization was consistent throughout but I found that, for my taste, the synchronization point chosen did not match where I feel it should be. I had high hopes for the Darude Sandstorm segment (after having particularly enjoyed this as the finale of the 2003 display be Atlas, but the version we saw was almost devoid of shells and left me unsatisfied. I didn’t understand the way the faux and real finales were sequenced – I would have reversed their order and I found them powerful but this just enhanced the feeling, for me, that the display itself was unbalanced. Technically, the display went well with a few transposition errors here and there with slice cakes and one fireball, but given the number of cues, this is to be expected. Based on the audience reaction, this will do well, but was not to my taste at all unfortunately.

Comments Off

Interview with Team Pyrotex Fireworx

By pyropaul August 1st, 2022, under Interview

I met with Mark Kelsall, owner and director of Pyrotex Firworx, competing for their first time in Montreal.

Mark said he’d been interested in fireworks all his life and ended up founding Pyrotex in 1999, but whilst working another full-time job. He said he spent all his savings on the company and was also a DJ and semi-professional boxer as well. Eventually the company got a break when they competed at the UK fireworks competition in Southport. He quipped that he said to his then girlfriend that he’d give her the baby she wanted if he won (fully thinking his team would not win). Now his son is 10 years old, going on 11! Pyrotex work the same competition the next year but things didn’t really take off for them until Mark’s friend (and previous Montreal competitor) Graham Wilkinson suggested he compete in Monaco, which the company did, winning in 2012. They won again in 2014 against stiff competition. After this, his dream was to compete to win in Montreal. Mark said it’s not the biggest budget competition in the world (some of the Asian ones that title now) but it’s by far the hardest due to the length. He said 30 minutes is very difficult given the setup time is tight and, with the recent increases in the price of fireworks, the budget is not really high enough anymore.

PyrotexR2

Chain of shells using PyroClock

Mark had visited Montreal in 2019 and worked on the Howard and Sons display – so he already had a feeling for how much work is involved, telling me the show design consumer over 600 hours. Originally it was scheduled for 2020 and the container was packed ready to go. Unfortunately, his storage location got flooded and he lost about 1/3 of the products in the container. To add insult to injury, the shipping company used this year (Hapag-Lloyd) created all sorts of difficulties for Pyrotex meaning that they could not ship the 200, 250 and 300mm finale shells they had intended for the display, due to paperwork issues. He said he also lost time repacking the container because HapagLloyd asked for all the pyro products to be in anti-static bags (which makes no sense as a metal shipping container is already a Faraday cage) plus they refused to include certain Chinese-origin products. This means the show we will see is not quite the one that was designed for 2020, unfortunately.

PyrotexR3

Ramp 3

The show, however, will be complex one with 11 positions on ramp 3 and 7 pontoons forming ramp 5. According to Mark there are 248 FireOne firing modules with 6702 cues and over 10,000 one shots alone with an overall total of 12342(!) items. Products come from Vaccalluzzo (Italy), Zaragozana (Spain), RICASA (Spain), Europla (Spain) and various Chinese companies imported into the UK by Celtic Fireworks. Mark noted that it’s easier to source these from a UK supplier due to the volumes needed for shipping these days.

PyrotexCakes

Cakes and Slices

There will be some surprises in the show and I noticed that various “letter mines” were being setup. Mark said he doesn’t use any visualization software, but he often does drawings of designs. Mark said the soundtrack was chosen such that the audience will immediately recognize the musical tracks so that they get engaged with the display right away. He said the segment he was most anticipating was the “Time to Say Goodbye” one as this is particularly poignant for him – he had lost two close friends unexpectedly, one aged 55 and the other aged 39. We all shed a tear during the interview listening to these sad stories.

PyrotexTeam

Scott Machin (l) Mark Kelsall, Steve Martin, Mel Sykes (r)

On a brighter note, the weather forecast is currently promising for this final in-competition display which is to be shot this coming Wednesday August 3rd.

Comments Off

Pyrotex Fireworx Soundtrack

By pyropaul July 31st, 2022, under Soundtrack

60 years of unforgettable music

For its first participation in Montréal, Pyrotex Fireworx will make the sky come alive with a colourful fireworks display dancing to the sound and rhythm of musicals ranging from the 1960s to the 2010s. Classical masterpieces, jazz, pop and dance hits will delight spectators of all ages. The soundtrack will feature hits from Abba, Queen, Bonnie Tyler, Andrea Bocelli, Paul McCartney, and Coldplay.

Pyrotex Fireworx

Founded in 1999, Pyrotex Fireworx has participated in many fireworks competitions and won many accolades. In 2010 and 2011, they took home first place at the British Musical Fireworks Champions Competition. Other awards include the Audience’s Choice Award at the Monaco International Musical Fireworks Competition in 2012 and 2014, the People’s Choice Award at the Festival d’art pyrotechnique de Cannes in 2015, and the Grand Champion Award at the Philippine International Pyromusical Competition in 2016 and 2018.

Year Title Artist
1960s Reet Petite Jackie Wilson
1970s Dancing Queen Abba
1970s We Will Rock You Queen
1980s Total Eclipse of the Heart Bonnie Tyler
1980s The Lion Sleeps Tonight Tight Fit
2000s Fix You Coldplay
2000s Sandstorm Darude
2010s Faded Alan Walker
2010s Love Me Like You Do Ellie Goulding
1990s Time to Say Goodbye Andrea Bocelli
Timeless God Save The Queen British National Anthem
1990s Live and Let Die Paul McCartney

Comments Off

Croatia – July 27 – Mirnovec Pirotehnika

By pyropaul July 28th, 2022, under Reports

Dancing with the Stars

Designed by Nikola Koletcić; FireOne Firing (unknown number of modules/cues, assisted by Eric Cardinal)

For their highly anticipated second participation in Montreal, Mirnovec were presented with a perfect summer’s evening with pleasant temperatures, light winds (in the right direction) and a very large audience.

I had been concerned during my interview with the team that they were not as prepared as I had expected and, unfortunately, it appeared my concerns were justified. Many workers were present on ramp 3 after 8pm and the only items we could see on ramp 5 were small flocks of seagulls. Nikola had explained during the interview that he had spent about a month converting the script for the show from their PyroDigit firing system to FireOne (assisted by Eric Cardinal) due to the former being used for the inauguration of the Pelješac Bridge this same week. This conversion process was also probably responsible for some confusion in my mind a to the cue-count for the display. PyroDigit scripting is “line” based where each line can have many different things happening at the same time in different modules whereas my concept of a cue is such that one cue = one e-match. Nikola said there were 8500 products and 2250 “cues” – but these were lines in the script and so the cue-count is closer to the product count. All that said, the mapping of the script lines in PyroDigit is not at all straightforward. The bitter truth was the team ran out of time to set everything up as they had to put in a huge effort to re-labeling a lot of their products and re-addressing them for the FireOne firing modules. This is one unforeseen consequence of the pandemic; the show was designed for 2020, 2 years before the bridge was due to open.

The display we saw, then was not the one that had been designed. No ramp 5 at all and quite some amount of products not set up (Nikola told me at least 150 slice cakes were still on the truck at display time). What we saw in the end was a series of 13 individual displays for each type of dance music the soundtrack represented. After the main countdown, a single 300mm shell was launched before a narration started, with neither music nor fireworks. Given my comment in 2013 (“After the initial countdown, the audience held their collective breaths in trepidation as a narration started, but with no supporting fireworks”), I think this was a mistake. Given the clarity of the theme, most of the narration was redundant and the dark skies between each segment only served to introduce a feeling of anticlimax and interruption to the flow of the display. Personally, I want to be transported on a journey for 30 minutes and get into a different zone – these interrupts break that mental flow.

The firing patterns used were very good with great one-shots, fantastic colours and very dramatic and fast-paced at times, completely filling the display area from left to right. The problem, in my opinion, was that these became repetitive and somewhat detached from the feeling of the music. There was too little interplay between ramp 3 and the shells above – often times the shell firing patterns were just repetitive volleys of albeit very good shells. The problem with the shells, though, was the repetition of the type of shells used for different musical segments – one example of this being the very good ghost shells or strobing horsetails. It’s hard to know what hadn’t been setup and what was missing from ramp 5. The music for Zorba is very well known and builds in pace, but all we got were volleys of shells, leading to another anti-climatic feeling. We did see some interesting nautical effects and low-angle firings across the lake towards the audience, but no real nautical shells per se. It’s a shame that for the Blue Danube Waltz section that “water ballet” shells were not used, rather than the nautical flares.

The finale was great and built to a dramatic gold finish to cheers from the audience and a standing ovation for the team. Despite my criticisms above, it was a very good display but we’ll never know how it was really meant to me and so this is a real shame for the Croatian team who I know worked every hour they could to put on the display we saw.

Comments Off

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »
Sponsored by
http://www.royalpyrotechnie.com