From Mylene: http://myleneetartifice.blogspot.ca/2014/01/sous-toutes-reserves.html

Samedi, 28 juin
Samedi, 05 juillet
Samedi, 12 juillet
Mercredi, 16 juillet
Samedi, 19 juillet
Mercredi, 23 juillet
Samedi, 26 juillet
Samedi, 2 août

Only 8 displays this year!

Paul.

Thanks for sharing this, Paul.

Well, I had a feeling that we would have a late start date (this year will be the second latest start in the history of the competition), as well as a final date in early-August, but wow, just eight displays this year? I find that surprising for the 30th edition! This might be the fewest number of displays for a given season in the competition's history. This would also mean that there would only be seven competitors (unless there is no closing?), and we are typically used to at least eight.

That said, I anxiously await our competitors!

Trav.

That is an interesting calendar, with the "traditional" schedule of Saturdays with the addition of some Wednesdays. The only strange point is a "missing" Wednesday show on July 30th. Is that a mistake with the calendar provided to Mylène? I would like to believe so, but Croisières AML now features the same calendar on its website.

Since 1992, the Montreal competition has featured 9 or 10 full displays per year. From 1985 to 1991, we had 7 to 9 displays per year.

Fred

From 1985 to 1991, we had 7 to 9 displays per year.

Ah, I see. So this coming season will have a similar number of participants as some of those in the early years of the competition. I don't quite recall the number of displays in the very early 90's, when we first attended the competition - we did not really pay attention to schedule structure at the time.

I was also wondering the same thing about the missing Wednesday towards the end. Perhaps they would like to retain the closing show (assuming it is a closing show) on a Saturday rather than a Wednesday?

Trav.

There's a new banner on the official website: "Surveillez le dévoilement de la programmation de la 30e édition", without any specification.

The Hôtel Omni Mont-Royal seems to be the new home of the invited pyrotechnicians, instead of the Marriott Chateau Champlain. Furthermore, the French television network TVA no longer appears among the partners.

In addition to the lost of TELUS sponsorship, I suppose that the decreasing value of the Canadian dollar also impacts the event budget and may explain the 8-show line-up.

Fred

Curious as to who might be the new sponsor for the competition.

Trav.

That's a surprisingly short line up!

I hope they'll be giving back the platinum jupiter! If they will, I wanna see Jupiter, Weco, Melrose, Fireworks Spectaculars Canada, Marutamaya-Ogatsu and Morsani compete for it.

Vander

Any news? i've been watching lots of videos from the past seasons and I'm wandering whchis companies will perform at the 30th edition.

A platinum Jupiter would be great.

My choices

Europe: 3 entries

Weco (They're the winner of the 20th edition, they deserve it. Moreover I'm a big big fan of their pyromusicals, always very creatives, not abusing of the single shots and always creating beautiful atmospheres with a very good sense of the timming)

Pains Fireworks ( Both performances in Montreal were GREAT, they always take a risk and have a very good sense of the space, great themed pyromusicals and the choice of music is always impecable)

Vaccalluzzo They win the silver two years ago, not the gold, but anyway they have done a lot for the pyrotechnic art in the past years. Their shows are unique in terms of products, sequences of single shots and intensity. I think they deserve to be in this competition again. For me they are the IPON of XXI century

America

Jupiter. They did one of the best pyromusicals I remember back in 2005. They don't disapoint with their job, they work really hard to put a special show every time they perform in a competition.

Pyrotechnico. We all remember the 2006 show Rock and Love, right?

Royal They won the 2009 season with a very very good show with a lot of surprises and creative effects.

Asia

Marutamaya / Aoki Japanese fireworks are a must, Aoki did an incredible show last season. I wouldn't mind to see the again, i know it's not going to happen, so Marutamaya would be a great company to represent japan.


I guess the last show is the closing one and it will be by Panzera

Rovira, it is nice to hear from you again, and thank you for sharing your choices for representing firms! No, there has not been any more news as of yet, but I would imagine that we could be seeing further information provided later this month (given the trend over recent years).

Trav.

I heard that the official schedule might not be released before mid-March now.

Stay tuned! As soon as I have more news, I'll post it here.

Paul.

Thanks for the update, Paul. I do not really mind the delay, as we still have plenty of Winter to get through!

Trav.

i hope that the quality of the displays dont suffer because of the delayed announcement. Could mean that the participants were also invited later than usual.

Best Regards,
Vander

I believe the delay is more marketing-related than anything else as there's about to be an election call here in Quebec - I think they don't want their news being lost in this as the media will be focussed on politics. My understanding is that the participants were invited at the usual time.

Paul

I think they don't want their news being lost in this as the media will be focussed on politics

Does the media ever focus on this competition ?

*coughing*

Mylene

Does the media ever focus on this competition ?

I really wish the media would significantly enhance their coverage with respect to this competition, especially as we are now advancing into the 30th edition.

Trav.

Still no news!

The official site has a "stay tuned for the schedule" message now ... I emailed the organizers earlier this week but didn't hear anything back. It is, of course, Spring Break, for many so perhaps they're all away.

Paul.

Please keep us informed, Paul! I am sure that we are all very anxious as we continue to wait for our participants to be revealed!

Trav.

Latest news I have is that the schedule will most probably be revealed on April 3rd.

I'll bring you the news as soon as I get it!

Paul

I think this is the latest release date since I follow the competition (mid-1990s). In late 1990s and early 2000s, we got the full schedule as soon as November.

Fred

I suppose that we can be patient for a little while longer, especially that we have now reached the first full day of Spring (even though the season will continue to be reluctant to start for some time). For those interested, my personal Spring and Summer 2014 outlook, along with a review of this past Fall and Winter, can be found here:

https://www.facebook.com/notes/travis-moore/winter-2013-2014-and-a-loo k-ahead-to-spring-summer-2014/10152272641796346

I posted this outlook on March 16th, 2014.

Trav.

For those of us who must travel to Montreal to see the fireworks, the late announcement of the schedule can be more than just a minor annoyance. It means a delay in making travel and accommodation arrangements, and can make it more difficult to coordinate other summer plans with the show schedule (so that one can attend the shows one most wants to see). A month or two can make a big difference in the availability Montreal hotel rooms. If the organizers want to use the competition to help draw tourists to the city, delaying the announcement of the schedule may turn out to be a rather counter-productive tactic.

Robert,

thanks for your comments. I've passed them on to the organizers.

Best regards,

Paul.

No, that's not a big season this years!

Today is probably the day the schedule will be revealed, correct?

Trav.

Yes - that was the plan. I just received an email from Martyne saying the schedule will be definitely released on April 10th - I understand why they're doing this with all the election issues dominating the news.

One week ... hang in there!

Paul.

Thanks for the update, Paul. One week more isn't too bad, given that we are now in the nice month of April.

Trav.

Bad news folks - another one week delay. I was just informed the schedule will be release on April 17th!

Maybe this year's theme is "guess the company"

Paul.

wow they are really delaying the announcement this year might as well give the audience surprise shows, companies and countries

Well, on the bright side, we can continue to make our personal predictions for a while longer!

Trav.

Maybe this year's theme is "guess the company"

Yes, that is right. This a dramatic new concept : the full line-up will be released only the night of the Award Ceremony. The audience will be invited to guess which country has performed each display, and additional points will be rewarded for those who find the specific company. The winners will appear in an episode of Pyros! ;-)

More seriously, I really wonder what is happening behind the scenes.

Thank you for the update, Paul!

Fred