The 38th edition of the Montreal international fireworks competition is about to start, in just 4 days. Here are some personal comments about the 2024 line-up and changes implemented in connection with some environment issues.
The 2024 Program
Generally speaking, I feel that we are about to experience a competitive season. Among the three returning competitors, two have already reached the podium : the Austrian Steyrfire won the Silver Jupiter in 2018, just behind Dragon Fireworks from Philippines and taking the lead over Pyrotecnico from the USA; and Fireworks Spectaculars Canada, winner two Gold Jupiter awards in 2010 and 2014 (the latter jointly with Royal Pyrotechnie). In both cases, these were not modest achievements.
I am very excited by the appearance of a Japanese entrant (for the first time since 2012), as displays from that country often exhibit rare, high quality pyrotechnic effects. The descriptive available on La Ronde website emphasizes this specific aspect. It also reveals that Omagari’s soundtrack may be a departure from the national musics of previous Japanese extravaganzas.
I do not have a lot of information about La Rosa and Arteventia recruits. I am very curious about the theme of the latter,
Crépusculairs, which evokes nighttime activities but is also written “Crépuscul’airs” in the descriptive. The only one for which I have low expectations is Lux. It’s debut performance in 2007 was below the average. But we never know, the Mexican team may present an improved show and surprise me!
For the closing show, La Ronde keeps its focus on English-speaking groups and singers with a tribute to Coldplay. It misses a great opportunity to turn lights towards French-language songs with the 50th anniversary of the very popular
Beau Dommage inaugural album. In advance to the celebration of the 375th anniversary of Montréal in 2017, I had already written, in my season summary posted in late July 2016 (
here) : “It is also my wish that the Feux des étoiles 2017 will pay a tribute to a popular music group from the area, who has celebrated Montréal in its songs and whose popularity transcends generations.
Beau Dommage looks to me as a natural choice. After all, the competition is held
Du milieu du pont Jacques-Cartier” (a reference to the title of one of their songs). I don’t lose hope for the future.
I also note that Saturday night performances are back this year with two shows scheduled on this day where the largest number of people are available for late night events. I believe the mix of Thursday and weekend nights is a slight improvements from last year calendar, but I still believe that is suboptimal.
Environment and (re)introduction of lasers
In the aftermath of the more intense controversies related to the pollution caused by the fireworks, the introduction of some restricting policies in various cities, and the cancellation of its 2023 opening show (following the “recommendation” of the Direction régionale de la Santé publique de Montréal due to wildfires in Northern Quebec), La Ronde – with Quebec and Canadian partners in the pyro industry – has commissionned a study to engineering company AtkinsRealis (formerly known as SNC Lavalin). The study was released in March 2024. For those who have missed the news, you can read the press release
here (in French). The Canadian Press news report was published
here, among other news outlets. Additional news reports can be found on the websites of CBC News
here, Global News
here, CTV News
here, TVA Nouvelles
here, and Noovo
here.
One of the most interesting reports was on the local French-language public television
Le Téléjournal, whose journalist has asked for some reactions from the Direction régionale de la santé publique de Montréal : “
Mais ce qui est un peu curieux ici, c’est que la Santé publique, qui était très critique des feux d’artifice, a refusé de commenter le rapport, en tout cas pour l’instant” (available
here, at 36:03). And, as far as I know, it has not commented further since that time.
Whereas the study emphasizes the limited impact of fireworks on air quality, La Ronde has nonetheless announced a number of initiatives to reduce this impact, mostly through the competition official Facebook page. The participants have to comply with a new restriction about the maximum quantity of explosives during a display (posted on June 2); however, the quantity is not specified. This may incidentally be in line with a criticism I have heard many times over the years, that contestants should be limited regarding the size of their display, to keep it more fair and competitive. It was also posted that IFLQ “has replaced some plastic parts used in the shows with pieces made from recycled and decomposable cardboard” (on June 10); I believe this is a long time trend among the manufacturers, as I remember countless plastic residues could be seen on the midway ground, or floating on the surface of the lake, a long time ago. More recently (4 days ago), it was also posted that this year, the design of the pyromusical shows is going to be adapted to improve the dispersion of polluting emissions produced by fireworks, with no additional details.
One change promises to be more obvious : while each show still has a duration of 30 minutes, the length of the pyrotechnic component is going to be reduced to 25 minutes, with an addition of laser-based segments for an additional five minutes (except for the opening display, which is the cancelled show scheduled for the opening of the 2023 competition). These segments will be designed by
Laser Quantum, a local company whose expertise is about integration of lasers and other special effects in various shows and facilities. As indicated on
Mylène's blog, it is going to be divided between two segments of about 2.5 minutes each.
I am very skeptical about this change. This is a return of the lasers after some experiments in the mid-1990s. As I reminded in an extensive post published on my Facebook personal page on March 30, contestants had the option to integrate lasers with water screens into their pyromusical shows in 1997. 5 out of 8 teams made the choice to use them. While some participants found it to be a promising technology, other were very reluctant to use it. The concept did not return in 1998. I do hope that the technology has improved since that time. Also the decision to bring people with expertise on this matter, instead of putting additional requirements on the contestants’ shoulders, may be a wise decision. However, I am afraid that the flow of the show may be interrupted by these laser segments, and these are parts of the shows that contestants do not (fully) control, so I wonder how it is going to play out with the evaluation of each show as a whole. We will see this very soon!
I do have a lot more to say, but it is going to be in future posts!
Fred
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