La Ronde has updated its website and the operating hours for the 2018 season now appear in the park hours section. Because the park typically closes much later on fireworks nights, we can infer the 2018 competition schedule as follow:

Saturday, July 7
Wednesday, July 11
Saturday, July 14
Wednesday, July 18
Saturday, July 21
Saturday, July 28
Wednesday, August 1st
Wednesday, August 8

If the above schedule is confirmed, it would be the latest starting date in the competition history. I also believe that it might be the first time (at least since I follow the event) that an equal number of weekend nights and week nights compose the schedule.

Fred

Strange to have so many Wednesdays! Especially for the closing, and why not a display on August 4th instead of the 8th? Again only 8 displays so we may surmise only 6 competitors again, though I would hope for 7.

Paul.

Thanks for sharing this, Fred.

I am also surprised by the number of Wednesdays, most especially that Wednesday assigned to the final show! I was further hoping for a slightly larger total number of displays. And, yes, the July 7th start date would definitely be the latest - we've been more regularly breaking records for that since 2012!

I predict France on July 21st.

Trav.

Another page of La Ronde website now confirms the dates listed in the original post.

https://www.laronde.com/fr/larondefr/linternational-des-feux/accueil

Fred

To those who wonder why no fireworks display is scheduled on Saturday, Aug. 4 : Osheaga will be held on Aug. 3-4-5, 2018. It is certainly the prime suspect. Each year, the crowd control on Ste. Hélène island is a nightmare on the Osheaga+fireworks evening. I would not be surprised to learn that authorities put some pressures for a such change.

Fred

Allo tout le monde

C'est OK la Ronde à donné les dates 2018 pour la présentation des feux.
Moi je veux y assister mais j'attends toujours la liste des firmes qui participeront à la compétition.

Est-ce qu'un membre de ce site a des nouvelles à ce sujet ?

Merci à l'avance pour votre attention

Roger

^ I have the same question. Its almost march and we have no idea of which companies are in the schedule this year. Id really like to know it beacause I have to book my flight ...

Hi Roger and Rovira,

As I remember from last year, the actual competing companies were not disclosed until the first week of April. There is also a tendency for the second half of March.

Trav.

Rovira,

I have it on good authority that it's going to be an amazing line-up this year! Hopefully the information will be released soon!

Paul.

Nice to hear that its going to be an amazing line up according to your sources! The thing is that I would like to know the companies and the dates of each one to know exactly how many days I ll be in Montreal. Depending on the companies I ll be in the city 2 or 3 weeks.

I was planning to record the shows, i dont have an amazing camera but enough to make nice HQ videos, I would like to upload the videos to youtube or something. Is there any chance to be near the cabin during the show? I have to find a good spot with a general view, not to far, not to close but the thing is i cant remember if there is place more than the offial seats.


One day we should talk about the fact that being Montreal the best fireworks competition in the world there is a lack of online promotion unlike other minor competitions that have lots of views in youtube and much more “online reputation”. The organizers should think about uploading good quality videos or something to show not only those who attend the event but to the rest of the world why is the most prestigious fireworks competition.

Below are the dates when full schedules (i.e., dates, countries and companies) have been released since the launch of the montreal-fireworks.com forum:

2017 - April 5, 2017
2016 - March 18, 2016
2015 - March 26, 2015
2014 - April 24, 2014
2013 - February 28, 2013
2012 - February 22, 2012
2011 - February 7, 2011
2010 - February 10, 2010
2009 - March 19, 2009
2008 - December 13, 2007
2007 - December 16, 2006
2006 - December 13, 2005
2005 - December 15, 2004
2004 - January 28, 2004

Fred

Well, we now know that 2018 will feature at least the second latest release date for the full schedule since 2004.

I still predict France for July 21st. It would be nice to see Australia as part of the competitors, too.

Trav.

I do make three predictions:

1) One contestant from a country never listed in the competition, so the diversity of Earth will be more reflected in the history of the competition.
2) A return of the United States into the competition this year.
3) An anticipated return from a lovely entrant who had rocked in the Montreal sky.

My wishes:

- Not to have an off-competition opening display, rather a 7th contestant.
- To get a Japanese show, which has not happened since 2012. Japanese entrants often showcase very detailed and original shells, which are not common in other displays.
- To enjoy returning shows from Pyrotecnico (last time in 2008), Grupo Luso (2012), Pyroemotions/PyroDigit (2013), and Vulcan (2015).

I would not be surprised to see the French team JCO back in the competition sooner than later.

Fred

For the first time in the Montreal competition history, only one European country will run for a Jupiter prize this year! It is also the first time that two Asian countries are listed since 2008, with first appearance of a Philippine entrant!

To entertain us, the module used to sale fireworks tickets on La Ronde website now provides the countries to be represented each night:

Saturday, July 7 - Opening show
Wednesday, July 11 - Austria
Saturday, July 14 - China *** 300th show in the competition history
Wednesday, July 18 - Canada
Saturday, July 21 - Philippines
Saturday, July 28 - United States
Wednesday, August 1st - Australia
Wednesday, August 8 - Closing show

So you can now make more specific predictions before the full release!

Fred

Salut Fred

Merci pour les infos. Tu connais les noms des firmes en compétition ?
Merci et bonne nuit

Roger

Certaines personnes ont crû voir des indices dans le libellé de mes prédictions. Elles ont sans doute trop d'imagination. ;-)

Fred

My predictions and wishes:

Firevent , Pyrovision or Styrfire (my favourite) representing Austria

Dragon fireworks representing Philippines

Vulcan representing China

Royale representing Canada

Pyrotechnico representing USA

Howard and sons representing Australia

That would be an incredible lineup!

Thank you for sharing this information, Fred.

It is, indeed, an interesting schedule, and I am pleased to see the return of Australia. Nice to see the Philippines make an appearance, though it will certainly feel strange with only one European entrant!

All we need now is for, as always, ideal weather conditions (at least in large part) to govern display days, and for setup.

Trav.

We have:

Royal Pyrotechnie for the opening
steyrFire representing Austria
Dancing representing China
Apogeé representing Canada
Official Dragon representing The Philipines (designed by Vander!)
Pyrotecnico representing The USA
Howard and Sons representing Australia
Rozzi / Panzera for the closing

See https://www.sixflags.com/larondeen/linternational-des-feux/program

Paul.

MAGNIFIC

MAGNIFIC

I knew you'd all like it

Paul.

This is definitely a great line-up, with promising recruits and previous contestants with a good record in Montreal. It is also interesting to look at the theme of each display:

Saturday, July 7 - Royal Pyrotechnie (opening show) - Tribute to ABBA
Wednesday, July 11 - steyrFire (Austria) - Let's Dance
Saturday, July 14 - Dancing Fireworks (China) - The Butterfly Lovers (300th show)
Wednesday, July 18 - Apogée (Canada) - Immortals
Saturday, July 21 - Dragons Fireworks (Philippines) - Of Games and Thrones
Saturday, July 28 - Pyrotecnico (United States) - Rock Loves... Redux
Wednesday, August 1st - Howard and Sons (Australia) - Shapeshifter
Wednesday, August 8 - Rozzi's / Panzera (Closing show/Feux des étoiles) - For your eyes only (James Bond)

10 years after its award-winning debut display "Rock Loves", Pyrotecnico is back and it will revisit the same theme. Also in 2008, Sunny International (China) won a Bronze Jupiter with "Forever Love", which was based on the same Romeo-and-Juliette-style story than Dancing Fireworks' "The Butterfly Lovers".

Generally speaking, most themes seem pretty traditional (dance, movie soundtracks, pop). However, the Australian one is a bit mystical for now. And the Philippine concept, which integrates musics from video games, a not-so-common repertoire in the history of the competition, sounds original. I am looking forward for Dragons Fireworks since long-time forum member Vander (reflections-of-earth) works for this company since a couple of years.

With a tribute to ABBA, a fit for the well-attended "Feux des étoiles" series, La Ronde has decided to mimic the strategy with hope to create a buzz and to attract a larger crowd for its opening show. It is a good move and Royal Pyrotechnie has a fabulous record in Montreal. For the closing, Rozzi's Famous Fireworks (with collaboration of Panzera) did a very good opening show in 2017, so it is also a good choice in my opinion.

I am confident that we are in for a treat!

Fred

And applications for being a jury member are now welcome, too:

https://www.laronde.com/fr/larondefr/linternational-des-feux/jury

Fred

Only one month to go! I already have the flight! Im super exited. I ve been trying to buy the tickets for the shows, i will be in montreal for 3 weeks, i ll attend all competition shows, from steyrfire to howard and sons. The thing is that in la ronde webpage there is no option to choose the seat, only the section, which is really bad since i want to record the shows and i would like to have a good spot (the one in the concret platform in the middle of silver section looks a good one). Do you know if there is any store where i could buy the tickets and choose the seat? In 2005 I remember buying the tickets in a mall close to downtown ( cant remember the name) and they let me choose the seats. I have some friends in Montreal so they can buy me the tickets in any store where they are sold.

If I cant choose the seat do you know if there is any good spot to record the shows? I think close to the pyro cabin is a good spot but i cant remember if there is any free space there. I dont want to see audiences heads in the video, moreover I have a tripod so depending on the seat it would be quite complicated to open it. I dont have a super camera but enough to make some random hd videos, and since my last time in Montreal my video camera broke during the 2nd show now i want to do it properly.

Rovira, could you send me a private email?

Fred

Sure! Right now

Hi Fred, I've also been looking for a good vantage point to take proper videos. Last year I was able to take a few but do you know who I might be able to talk to to be able to see if they would grant me access to the booth or at least an area I could use to have a good view? I was hoping to donate my time to take good 4k footage of all the shows. I have the equipment already, so I was hoping to make good use of it to be able to give something back to the community.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

@Jbbank is it sure that you are recording all shows? If you are doing it maybe i wont record the shows. My equipement is not that good so if you are going to take proper videos its a waste of effort and time to do it with my random camera.

I know a pyroyoutuber will be in Montreal for the philippines show, but im not sure about the other shows.

Hey Rovira, my plan is to record all the shows provided I could get access to a good location. As a spectator, the rules in place at la ronde are also a bit confusing. Once I was not allowed to record, another time I was told that using a tripod was not allowed. That never seemed to stop many people doing the same once the show started.

I've always enjoyed photography and more recently have been dabbling in videography. All these years, I've never seen good quality recordings of the shows that I think it deserves. Now that I have a 4k camera with some wide angle lenses to capture it, I was hoping to give that back to the fireworks community.

Good luck Rovira! Choosing a suitable seat has been a persistent problem for the last three years. Fredbastien has attempted to alert La Ronde that this can be a truly troublesome issue, but they do not seem to care. I and my wife have dealt with this problem by joining forces with another USA couple and booking ticket blocks for multiple shows via La Ronde 'Group Sales' - they are able to select seats at requested locations. Competition director Martyne Gagnon, who I contacted by email, helped to get this set up the first time. Hopefully, Fred will be able to help you. Best Regards, Bob F.