This Saturday, an outstanding 45-minute fireworks display, the premier event of the 25th L’International des Feux Loto-Québec presented par TELUS

A Tribute to Cirque du Soleil and the pioneers and artistic creators of the Montréal International Fireworks Competition at La Ronde

Montréal, Tuesday, August 11, 2009 – The premier event of the 25th anniversary celebrations for L’International des Feux Loto-Québec presented by TELUS is finally upon us! This Saturday, La Ronde invites everyone to the longest fireworks display ever presented in Montréal to mark the event’s historic anniversary in grand style and pay tribute to Cirque du Soleil, which is also celebrating its 25th year!

The 45-minute non-competition fireworks display is a two-part event: the first is a 10-minute segment titled Des étoiles dans les yeux (“Stars in your Eyes”) that pays tribute to the pioneers and artistic creators whose work has graced La Ronde and Montréal International Fireworks Competition now known as L’International des Feux Loto-Québec presented par TELUS. The show illustrates the three components that go into creating fireworks: fire, sound, and flight. A narrator will lead spectators through the history of fireworks, from its discovery by the Chinese to the here-and-now where L’International stands as foremost amongst the pyromusical competitions on the planet.

In the second part, on a 35-minute Cirque du Soleil soundtrack, La Ronde and L’International will celebrate the company founded by Guy Laliberté thanks to the dazzlingly unique medium of fireworks. Eighteen musical selections from such shows as Zumanity, Cirque du Soleil, Quidam, ZED, Saltimbanco, Kà, ZAIA, Nouvelle Expérience, La Nouba, O, Dralion and Mystère will be performed – pyrotechnically. Some of these musical selections will be getting their Montreal premiere!


Québec firm Fiatlux, former participants at the L’International competition, is the show’s executive producer. It has also designed the show along with La Ronde and L’International. Fiatlux president Michel Rioux benefited from Cirque du Soleil’s collaboration, starting with Alain Vinet, who worked with him on the soundtrack. Others project participants are: Sylvain Duguay, a Cirque du Soleil partner, who worked on the scripting of the first 10 minutes of the show, and Jacques Méthé, who has organized celebrations for the Cirque du Soleil’s 25th anniversary.

Michel Rioux’s comments can be heard on L’International’s web site (www.internationaldesfeuxlotoquebec.com). Also listed are the musical tracks selected by the show’s creators.

In the words of La Ronde president Marc Tremblay, “This show bears the stamp of Cirque du Soleil’s creative genius because it has benefited from the very start from a team of exceptionally talented creators and, of course, because it features music designed to trigger vivid images and produce a breathtakingly stunning artistic performance.”

From the very beginning, Loto-Québec, L’International’s principal sponsor, believed that this event provided a golden opportunity to showcase the success of the fireworks competition, its pioneers and artistic creators’ contribution, and the huge popular, critical, and international success enjoyed by Cirque du Soleil. “As a popular and rallying event, L'International perfectly embodies the mission of the Rendez-vous Loto-Québec sponsorship program. At La Ronde, everyone is invited to take part in a magical show,” states Pierre Bibeau, Corporate VP, Communications and Public Affairs, Loto-Québec.

Celebrating 25 years with a bang!

This year, L’International des Feux Loto-Québec presented by TELUS is delivering a spectacular 25th anniversary edition. For the first time in the history of Montréal International Fireworks Competition, the five continents were represented this summer, confirming once again the event’s status as the “Olympics of fireworks”!

Is it just me, or the idea of a tribute to the pioneers of the Montreal competition is a new thing? I heard this from Michel Lacroix last Saturday and I had the impression that it was new.

Fred

It's a new thing, but the concept of the history of fireworks has been done before:

"For centuries, fireworks have passionately inspired the world's diverse cultures. In our corner of the world, fireworks are an expression of joy, good fortune and even love," explained Jim Souza, president of Pyro Spectaculars by Souza and producer of the show. "This show is designed as a universal hommage to the pyrotechnic art. This is why not only will it be punctuated by pyrotechnic special effects, representatives of numerous countries and continents, but will also demonstrate how fireworks have transcended the ages."

http://montreal-fireworks.com/cgi-bin/rep.cgi?head2001,usa01,tail2001

It's getting harder and harder to do an original theme in Montreal now!

Paul.

It's a new thing, but the concept of the history of fireworks has been done before

Paul, you are right, twice rather than once: while the history of fireworks was the theme of Souza's display in 2001, the history of the Montreal competition was the theme of the 20th edition opening show, performed by Ampleman:

http://www.montreal-fireworks.com/cgi-bin/rep.cgi?head2004,opening04,t ail2004

Fred