*10 FIREWORK DISPLAYS IN 2006
* CONTESTANT FROM AFRICA FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME
* 3 RECRUITS
* A SCHEDULE LEADING TO CONFUSION WITH SHOWS ON SOME SATURDAYS, SUNDAYS AND WEDNESDAYS


Saturday, June 17th - Bugano (Switzerland)
Sunday, June 25th - Pirotecnica Soldi (Italy)
Sunday, July 2th - Cienfuegos (Argentina)
Saturday, July 8th - Fireworks for Africa (South Africa)
Wednesday, July 12th - Macedo's Pirotecnia (Portugal)
Saturday, July 15th - Concept Fiatlux (Canada)
Wednesday, July 19th - Melrose Pyrotechnics (USA)
Saturday, July 22th - Brezac (France)
Wednesday, July 26th - Foti (Australia)
Saturday, July 29th - Panzera S.A.S. (La Ronde - Closing)

And your comments?

Fred

Fred,

Here are my comments:

Glad that there will be another year of competition in 2006!
Glad that Canada will participate!
Happy that there will still be 10 displays!
Sorry that they put a few Sundays in there, as I have to work very early in the morning the next day!
Sad that IPON from Italy, will not be there again this year, even though I am sure that Pirotecnica Soldi will do a great job!

In all, I really appreciate the fact that we do have an international firework competition to go to, here in Montreal.......we are the luckiest in the world!

Thanks for sharing the schedule with all of us, Fred.

Pierre

The long waited Mexico isn't in the list.

No Spain! .

I'm suprised to see Argentina's Cienfuegos in the list.

Portugal's Macedo's Pirotecnia, United States' Melrose Pyrotechnics and especially, South Africa's Fireworks for Africa are the new firms

Australia's Foti International Fireworks, France's BREZAC Artifices and Canada's Concept Fiatlux have all participated in 2001.

In opposition to last year's Australia, this time, Australia will be the last firm lol.

The US comes after Canada once again lol.

I'm still hoping that somehow I'll be able to watch the shows from La Ronde next year!

Hey guys,

WELL, GOSH, THIS IS ONE EARLY RELEASE, like last year! I'm sort of disappointed because I wanted to make predictions. So much for that prediction thread. But even so, I would have never guessed more than 50% of them, including the new firms and country.. Otherwise, I'm happy it came out because of the vast amounts of curiosity and tension. I, too, am also surprised to see Argentina there and it appears that Mexico did not show up after all!

As for my comments, I do have quite a bit, but I will detail them tomorrow or Thursday since I just came back from my history exam.

After taking a quick glimpse at this sort of awkward schedule, in summary, this is what I personally think.

First of all, as Enkil said, Spain isn't there, so I was disappointed. However, at least Italy and Portugal are there! Pierre, I'm sure you're happy about Italy being there, though it isn't I.P.O.N. And yes, as always, I expected Canada and U.S.A to be there back to back. The appearance of South Africa is an interesting surprise and I do look forward to witnessing its prowess. Seeing it there reminded me of seeing the appearance of Czech Republic last year for the 2005 schedule.

I must comment on the awkwardness of the beginning of the competition. Those 2 Sundays are a little strange as they might confuse people next year and might go the wrong day! However, we have had Sundays integrated before back in the 90s, as I recall except I remember them being used till the end. This is more confusing with the 2 consecutive Sundays after the first initial Saturday and then the Saturdays again. Back in the 90s, it used to be in this fashion:

Saturday
Saturday
Saturday
Saturday
Saturday
Wednesday
Sunday
Wednesday
Sunday
Wednesday

Here's to the new fireworks season, though we're almost with the start of Winter just days away. Today and yesterday alone felt like the depths of January.

Cheers,

Trav.

Nice to see the new schedule out. The reason for the Sundays at the beginning is because St Jean Baptiste and Canada Day are on Saturdays this year. In previous years when this happened, all of the subsequent weekend dates were pushed till Sunday. I believe that Saturdays are more popular overall - with the two holidays being on Saturday many people will take the following Monday off so a Sunday display should be OK.

It's good to see that we finally get a South African competitor. I'm not familiar with the company - I would have thought that Pyrospectaculars would have been invited. Nick Mitri has won many competitions in Canada and around the world - including the Lac Leemay competiton in Gatineau this year. Also interesting is that many of the listed companies do not use computerized firing equipment (or didn't in the past). This marks quite a reverse from a trend to more and more computerization. I'm glad to see the Foti's will be here from Australia as they are really the only serious display company left Down Under. They won the silver Jupiter in 2001 so their return to Montreal will be well anticipated I think.

Paul.

By the way, I don't have access to the montreal-fireworks.com webserver this week so I won't be able to put up the schedule page until next week.

Paul.

About the schedule, I believe that the main problem is that many people don't know when the fireworks are. Each year, I am often asked about that and we can't give an easy answer with a schedule like that. Also, since a couple of years, the TV ads don't provide information about the exact days, only "from June XX to July YY". I think that this is a serious problem with this event.

About the contestants, I share Paul's surprise about the South African company. I saw a show of Pyrospectaculars at Quebec City in 2002 and it was a very good one. I really appreciated the last Foti's performance. In my opinion, it was the best one in 2001 and Foti is very lucky to be scheduled again at the end of the competition. Brezac is a very creative company and it may win a prize for once. I was disappointed by the show produced by Concept Fiatlux each time I have seen them, but I may be surprised this year.

By the way, the Italian show will be the 100th display that I see from La Ronde! And the closing one will be the 200th firework display in the history of the Montreal International Firework Contest!

Fred

Fred,

Perhaps the 100th display for you from La Ronde will be one heck of a blast! However, Paul's 100th display, Britain, back in 2003, was a total mess! I think I jinxed it. Anyways, I know we're all hoping for a display full of creativity and suspense! My expectations are always high. And yes, I do agree with you about the schedule structure, but keep in mind that it's only temporary at the beginning, then it's back to normal.

Paul,

"Also interesting is that many of the listed companies do not use computerized firing equipment."

Could this be a good or bad thing? I feel that it could be both in some circumstances.

Regards,

Trav.

Paul and other participants were surprised to see that South Africa is going to be represented by another company than Pyrospectacular, which did win at Quebec and Gatineau.

I just visited the website of Fireworks for Africa, the forthcoming contestant to the Montreal International Firework Contest. It is written that this firm was involved in Quebec and Gatineau competition. So, I conclude that it is the same company but that the name has changed.

http://www.fireworks.co.za/previous.htm

Fred

To add to the confusion, Nick Mitri's company can be found at http://www.pyrotechnics.co.za but the website looks pretty much identical to http://www.fireworks.co.za (both, in my humble opinion, are extremely hard to read with dark grey text on a black backgroud). However, they list different contact information.

On further digging, I found that their webmasters and DNS registration information are the same:

1a. domain : fireworks.co.za
1b. action : U
2a. registrant : Soundalite CC
2b. registrantpostaladdress: PO Box 809, Houghton, 2041
2c. registrantstreetaddress: 46 Dunbar St., Yeoville, Johannesburg
2j. registrantphone : +27 11 648 6214
2k. registrantfax : +27 11 648 6191
2l. registrantemail : fireworks@artslink.co.za
2n. vat :
3a. operationaldate : 2004/07/29 16:01:34
4a. admin : De Klerk, TJ
4b. admintitle : Managing Member
4c. admincompany : Soundalite CC
4d. adminpostaladdr : PO Box 809, Houghton, 2041
4e. adminphone : +27 11 648 6214
4f. adminfax : +27 11 648 6191
4g. adminemail : teejay@icon.co.za

1a. domain : pyrotechnics.co.za
2a. registrant : Pyro Spectacular
2b. registrantpostaladdress: PO Box 178, Gallo Manor, Gauteng, ZA, 2052
2c. registrantstreetaddress: 46 Dunbar Street, Yeoville, Gauteng, ZA, 2198
2i. invoiceaddress : PO Box 809, Houghton, Gauteng, Za, 2041
2j. registrantphone : +27 11 957 3343
2k. registrantfax : +27 11 957 3344
2l. registrantemail : info@fireworks.co.za
4a. admin : de Klerk, TJ
4b. admintitle : Managing Member
4c. admincompany : Soundalite cc t/a Artslink.co.za
4d. adminpostaladdr : PO Box 809, Houghton, Gauteng, ZA, 2041
4e. adminphone : +27 11 487 3689
4f. adminfax : +27 11 388 1045
4g. adminemail : info@artslink.co.za

So there is definitely some connection. Perhaps if Nick is reading this forum he could clear up the confusion!

Paul.

The Montreal International Fireworks Competition does have a rule that prevents a company from taking part in any other competition in Canada during the year it is competing in Montreal. So, "Fireworks for Africa" does Montreal and "pyrospectacular" does the other competitions. I am sure they are two completely distinct companies with no ties whatsoever. They just happen to share the same web designer...

They just happen to share the same web designer...

true...

Doing a search with the line 4c (artslink) will get you to the page of a south african ISP which is hosting website
http://www.artslink.co.za

ok to make this clear they are just the same because they also joined in World Pyro olympics before it was fireworks for africa and now they change it to pyro spectacular! I'm van from the philippines! Am I wish i can also watch l'international des feux loto quebec i just watch the videos

moi j'ai hâte d'aller voire les feux cet année.surtout que la programmation est plus serré sa vas nous faire penser aux castillo en espagne