I met with Rodrigo Oyarzo and Patxi Igual (son of the president of the Spanish parent company, Pirotecnia Igual S.A.), competing for the first time in Montreal as a Chilean company. The company was founded in 1998 by the Barcelona-based parent and services the South American market. Rodrigo mentioned a special display that they had been involved in which had a 25km long display area and used 30 synchronized firing positions to fire, making it the largest display they had performed. Their Montreal competition show, though, represents their longest display in terms of time.
Rodrigo, together with Albert Rovira and Xavier Galan, did the design of the show and soundtrack back in Igual’s main office in Barcelona. Rodrigo mentioned that all of their company’s pyromusical show design is centralized at the head office. The soundtrack, with 37 pieces of music is, we believe, has one the largest number of any competing display in the history of the competition.
Despite Chile being in the same hemisphere is Montreal, all of the products used in the display were shipped from Spain as it is logistically simpler to use an Atlantic crossing (as Chile is on the Pacific coast). 75% of the products used in the display are pure Igual, the rest are Igual-badged products produced in China by Dancing Fireworks.
Both Patxi and Rodrigo mentioned that they want to showcase the diverse range of Igual products, rather than just the kamuros they are renowned for. All of the Roman Candles and oneshots are Igual, with many special effects being used for this competition show (such as colour-changing comets).
A total of over 2000 oneshots are being used, ranging in calibre from 30 to 45mm. The team are using interesting mounting devices for the oneshots, designed by Igual in Spain, as can be seen in this photo:
Ramps one through four are being used, with a special 360 degree “wheel” being installed on this latter ramp, consisting of over 200 oneshots. Rodrigo said it’s the largest such device they’ve ever used:
There will be other oneshots on ramp 4 and about 1600 on ramp3. The display is being fired using FireOne with a total of 95 32-cue models, for a cue count of around 2600. More than half of the firing modules are on ramp 3!
In terms of large calibre shells, there will be some 250mm and 200mm shells, and a lot of 175mm and 150mm (including cylindrical shells). Rodrigo said they usually only use 300mm shells when the display launching site is a long way from the audience. Because the Montreal audience is quite close, he chose to fill the sky in other ways. Their South American display clients enjoy loud nautical effects, so this is what they will be using in Montreal, rather than just bengals.
Rodrigo and Patxi both said they want to present the audience a high quality display to showcase their talents and Igual’s diverse range of products. Both emphasized the best place to watch from is La Ronde and they hope the audience enjoy their passionate spectacle.