1996 l'International Benson & Hedges Montréal Pyromusical Competition Report

Germany Time Travel Sunday June 30^th, 1996

Weco Pyrotechnische Fabrik

A very wet weekend threatened to spoil this display but fortunately the weather gods were smiling and the clouds rolled back late in the afternoon. However, I think the inclement weather during the weekend did have an effect on the display - more on this later.

The show began to a number of palm-tree type charcoal comet shells with charcoal comets on the rising shells giving the impression of the trunks of the trees. These were followed by a number of firefly shells which increased in size until the whole sky was filled with brilliant greenish-white twinkling stars.

The next segment began with a number of gold glitter comet shells which increased in size until they were replaced with brilliant white comet shells. Then there were many shaped-burst shells with single rings in various colours; double rings in contrasting colours and saturn type shells with particularly good blue centres.

As the theme of the display was time travel the next segment was meant to represent the start of time. This was achieved by the use of many very bright flash-pots on the ground with salutes above to give the effect of lightening and thunder. Then a number of yellow flares were set off on the ground to give the effect of primordial lava. A number of these flares were inside a translucent volcano shaped set-piece which had a very large fountain at the top and gave a fantastic impression of an eruption. Bright yellow star shells were fired above this Dante-esque scene together with many yellow mines. The effect was very impressive. The segment ended with screaming whistles and a large number of screaming toubillons.

The next segment began in a serene fashion with silver and gold fountains. Above the fountains were fired vivid purple stars from candles and then two silver girondelas which rose high into the air. A fan-shaped fountain set-piece was fired and above this were fired some very high bombette crackling candle comets which split into multi-coloured stars. Above these were fired some mulit-break shells containing go-getters and some saturn effect shaped-bursts. The end of the segment contained some large glitter-frond shells with the novel twist that the glitter-frond stars turned into multi-break colour stars at the end of their burn.

Charcoal fountains with spinning charcoal wheels were used to begin the next segment. Charcoal comet candles were fired above these and crossette charcoal comets above these. Then a bright red griffin shaped set piece moved from above the ground at the left of the display area and "landed" towards the middle where it sat and glowed for a considerable time. Above this were fired palm-tree shells and golden glitter mines. The end of the segment came with a large flight of rockets which exploded into gold twinkle stars.

The next segment rapidly followed with some large crackling glitter fountains. Gold glitter crossettecomets were fired above the fountains and then another large flight of gold glitter rockets. Two fan-shaped fountain set pieces were fired but one of them only partially ignited - probably due to the earlier damp weather. Long-tailed white comet shells were fired above these set pieces and then some bright white wheels were ignited. Crossed comets were fired above the wheels which then changed into large bright white fountains. As these were burning, wiggling white comets which exploded into a multitude of small stars were fired. At a high level, some large multi-break shells containing charcoal glitter stars were fired, forming a nice glittering mesh in the sky.

The next segment began with a boat-shaped set piece. Then some amazing candles which gave the impression of rivers of stars rising rapidly into the air. There really were a vast number of stars fired in very quick succession - it seemed as though the candles must have been packed with stars with almost no delay between the individual stars. These rose to a very great height. Some nice blue and silver star shells were fired high in the air and then some nice blue small-starred bombette type shells fired at a lower level. After this were some large white comet shells and then some multi-break shells of white comets which turned to blue and then to gold. A line of titanium fountains was ignited forming the "sails" of the boat with wiggling white exploding comets fired above and the segment ending with some big white comet shells.

The song "putting on the ritz" introduced the next segment with several gold fountains which swayed in time with the music! Then a volley of rockets and some nice white comets which formed a fan-shape. Above this were fired a lot of shaped-burst shells with red hearts, lots of coloured rings, many brilliant colour star shells and even a double five-pointed star in blue. Then there were some amazingly bright white comet candles. Above this were fired several go-getter shells, first in green and then in blue. Then shells of red wiggling stars which ended in salutes. The segement began to increase to a climax with shells of toubillons which fanned out from a centre point, surrounded by blue and glitter stars forming the effect of either a scallop shell or a cauliflower! Then a vast number of toubillons were fired from the ground and a number of multi-break tourbillon scallop-type shells and some blue go-getter shells. The segment ended in a loud volley of salutes fired from multi-break shells.

The next segment began in a serene fashion with green ground-based flares and green star candles. Above these were fired shells of clustered stars which drifted downwards very slowly and were very vividly coloured in red, green and an excellent blue. Then white and gold comets followed with mines of whistles and salutes. Three girondelas ascended majestically into the air followed by three more. Above these were fired white comet shells and them some excellent shaped-burst shells which produced the shape of red four-leaved clovers with a core of blue stars. The next section was either a dramatic mis-fire or was simply dramatic. A vast number of tourbillons appeared to emerge hissing from the water of the lake but may equally have been the result of some low breaks! Either way, it was very dramatic. Above this seething nest of snakes were fired shells of charcoal stars which turned into white comets at the end of their burn.

The next segement began with the fast candles with a lot of multi-break shells above. Then glitter mines and mines of toutbillons and whistles with a volley of rockets and scallop-shell shells for good measure. This theme continued with crossette multi-break comet candles, then the fast candles again followed by more rockets and silver glitter shells and finally crossette comets.

The final segment began with silver wheels and space-ship shaped set-pieces in red. Above these were fired the wiggling exploding comet mines and some very high-rising golden fountains. Then some very high small-starred mines in purple, blue and pink. The finale itself consisted almost exclusively of glitter-frond shells with single and multi-break. Finally a large number of very large shells which burst with seemingly nothing happening until the sky was filled with a huge number of titanium salutes and a final huge silver glitter frond shell whose stars ended as white comets.

Overall, this was a very interesting display with especially good use of set pieces and other ground-based fireworks. Whilst containing rather few large shells compared to other displays, the overall theme and use of devices to tell the story of the theme was very well done. I think the weather must have had a negative effect though since I noticed when leaving the display that there were several racks of un-fired rockets and some other groups of mortars still with their protective plastic in place. There were also some low-breaks and I noticed at least one flower-pot. Despite these criticisms, a very original and enjoyable display.