Nice to see such exquisite remarks about Royal's display - makes the feeling even more hyped!

I would have thought the display being set up by FAE on the 20th would be appropriately titled "Winter Solstice" as opposed to next Saturday's show by Ampleman, given that the season does indeed officially commence early in the morning (about 7:04 a.m EST) on the 21st of December. Oh well, as long as Ampleman does it justice in representing it, as I'm sure the team will, it's all good, right? As much as I'm not at all looking forward to Winter's arrival (especially after experiencing yesterday's January-like bone-chilling temps), I do plan on seeing the last couple of displays (or at least one of them) and am sincerely hoping that they'll be just as brilliantly concocted as that of Royal. This will actually be the first time I attend a Feux Sur Glace display, so my expectations are particularly high (reading the comments after all these years ). Fortunately, most of the remainder of December should predominantly follow a near to slightly above normal pattern in temperature, so that really helps making the effort in getting out there a whole lot easier. lol And given the upcoming system's speed, track and dynamics, we should avoid copious amounts of snow, and it should depart late Wednesday after the rain is over - that's the latest update.

Paul - Nice to know that the temperatures were conducive to promoting a fairly large volume of people for attending the display. The temperature was recorded at about -3 C at around the time of presentation, while windchill values were about -8 to -9 C - both figures of which fall within the expected range. Luckily it wasn't yesterday morning's -20 C (wc of -30 C)!

I do look forward to seeing your video as well, TRae. It's very nice to see your presence on the forum after all this time, by the way. Pierre, Mylene and Jerome, too.

All the comments are much appreciated.

Trav.

Hi Mylene! Yeah probably with FAE. I hope to meet you lol

Bonjour tout le monde,

J'ai assisté aux deux spectacles de "Feux sur glace" jusqu'à maintenant. Je dois avouer que celui donné le 6 décembre par Royal Pyrotechnie intitulé "Poussières de lune", était très excitant. Le rythme était non seulement rapide, mais il était soutenu tout au long du spectacle. Un feu intense qui nous en a mis plein la vue. La finale était quelque peu décevante, certainement dû au fait que le spectacle en lui-même était très animé....ce qui a fait "pâlir" la finale. Pour ce qui a été du spectacle du 13 décembre donné par Ampleman et intitulé "Solstice d'hiver", on a vécu le phénomène inverse. Quoique le spectacle fût très intéressant, le rythme était plus lent, moins intense, mais par contre, la finale nous en a mis plein les yeux. En effet, nous avons eu droit à une fausse finale, suivie d'une accalmie, pour finir avec une finale similaire à la fausse finale. Très bien pour un spectacle d'hiver qui ne fait pas partie d'une compétition! Malgré le fait qu'il faisait plus froid le soir du 13 par rapport au soir du 6 décembre, c'était beaucoup plus confortable. La raison est sans doute parce que le temps était moins humide et moins venteux le 13....

La présence de neige au sol m'a personnellement mis dans une ambiance euphorique, rendant le spectacle encore plus intéressant. L'éclatement des feux dans le ciel, faisait briller la glace collée aux branches d'arbre.........et la nuit était beaucoup moins sombre avec le sol blanc sous nos pieds. Quelle belle combinaison que la neige et les feux d'artifice......un duo parfait qui donne un air de Fête!

J'ai déjà hâte au 20 décembre!

Travis.....I hope you will attend the next display......I am sure you will enjoy it!

Pierre

I just found this out... :

http://multimedia.cyberpresse.ca/photosbulles/08feuxsurglace/08feuxsur glace.html

Anyone else saw Ampleman's firework last saturday ?

Ahah je suis dans la photo! Merci Mylène!

For the first time, I attended a display of the Feux sur Glace event, and I must say that last night's display by FAE didn't betray my expectations! The performance lasted about 17 mins (I think - couldn't keep track of time as I was frozen stiff) and was nicely organized with some great effects (including the shells of triple rings) along with some suitably long segments. For the most part, the performance well remained active with plenty of noise in addition to one piece involving plenty of mines of terminating salutes, which really caused many people to scream in excitement! One of the most active parts was definitely during the "Let it Snow" soundtrack, which was the opening, and of course the track used for the finale. The finale itself was alright, but as always, I wanted it to last longer - it was better than expected, though, especially going there not knowing too much in what to expect!

While I enjoyed the display, the feeling was even more grand because I was accompanied by my good friend, Enkil. We met in the Champ de Mars metro station about an hour before the display and we simply killed time by walking around the area where the fireworks took place (trying desperately to keep warm as we did) and looking at the sites, although the cold was simply too much to handle. While indoors for a while, we saw quite a bit of people out on the skating rink not long before the fireworks began, in addition to others engaging in related activities that were present in the area.

Enkil and I both agreed that the display would have been a lot more enjoyable if it weren't so darn cold (obviously lol)! It was difficult to discern initially where the fireworks would take place, mainly because the snow transformed the area and because it was dark. In the end, though, we were fortunate enough to get hold of a nice vantage point right up front! However, you should have seen the two of us and many people around shivering to death in temperatures hovering roughly around -17 C during the display...Brrrrrrr. Fortunately, as expected, the winds were relatively light at around 11 km/h out from the North/Northeast, though there were occasional breezes that really made things rather uncomfortable.

Weather aside, I thought the show was nicely concocted - I particularly wasn't expecting some of the dazzling effects we commonly see during the Summer. Also, as many of you stated frequently in the past, these displays truly allow for a totally different feeling compared to that of Summer - a completely different atmosphere is present (I mean that in both a mystical way and in a literal sense ). After the conclusion, I told Enkil that it would be nice for them to represent Canada in the Montreal competition as a Quebec firm, for they've never competed previously.

In any case, not a bad evening overall, but it's definitely worth attending when temperatures are much more suitable! Big thanks goes out to Enkil for joining me for this exquisite display!

Hope the weather is a lot more comfortable for next week, which it should be. I'll keep an eye on that as the week unfolds. Tonight is actually the longest night of the year, but from tomorrow onwards, we're going to start recovering daylight slowly. In the meantime, it's time to dig out!

Happy holidays to all of you,

Trav.

Are all the displays finished?

As Smoke said in another thread ...

And yes, Pat, BEM is scheduled to do a display on the final night (the 27th) of the Fire on Ice event this year.

I won't be working on the firework this time, as all my apprentice stages are done ... but might be skating on the ice tho !

Enjoy all !

PS : Smoke, you just have to dress properly . Can you believe I was sweating on saturday night ? No kidding.

Hi Mylene,

Yes, dressing appropriately is the best defense against such horrific cold conditions, although exposed for elongated periods can still penetrate all that gear. I do perspire often as well when I'm walking, for example, outdoors in similar weather, but this can lead to further discomfort, for me at least, because you tend to feel hot internally, while cold externally (conflicting body temps) at the same time. Persperation itself promotes further cooling, especially in Winter.

Saturday's weather should be alright, though slushy. More on that later on.

Hope the last display is a good one, and if you plan to go skating, hope you have fun.

Pat - There's still one more display, which is being prepared by BEM on the 27th.

Happy Holidays, everyone.

Trav.

Salut Mylène!

Un grand merci de ta participation pour le feux sur glaces! Nous avont eu joie et plaisirs de monté les spectacles à la mittaines haha!

Tu apprend très vites et c'est très agréables de ne pas voirs une femmes paniqué sur un chantier!

Je sait pas ou tu était puisque tu t'est absenté..J'espères que tu as eu belles vues du feux! Moi j'ai vus que du feux J'ai jamais eu aussit peurs lors d'un feux, c'était effectivement très intenses ce week-end!

J'espères que tu as aimé ton expérience en tant que artificière, maintenant c'est à ton choix de choisirs la firmes pour qui tu veut travailler, je croit que tu feras le bon choix

J'y serait pour le feux de BEM, mais commes spectacteurs

Hi smoke!

Hope you enjoyed the Fae Pyro Display! I just see fires because i watched the display on firing site, i working for this show hope Traech as put the video on youtube! I cannot wait to see the show from audiences!

I will check to see the Bem Fireworks Display next week-end, hope to see you theres! and you too Mylènes!

I'm not sures to bring my skate for this night, except the weather condition is good!

Jerome

Merci Jay. C'était vraiment plaisant en effet ! Je risque par contre d'être plus pigiste qu'attitrée à une firme. Comment choisir anyway ?

Je serai la samedi, with my Habs Jersey. Look for it. No number on the back, but I have the 100th and the All-Stars game crests on the shoulders.

Mylene.

Trav, I'm glad to hear that you and Enkil made it down to catch your first Feux Sur Glace and I'm glad to hear that, apart from the cold, it was thoroughly enjoyed.

I went with a few friends who don't walk as fast as I do which caused me to miss the first couple of minutes of the display and had to settle with watching it from along Marché Bonsecours (not a great vantage point). Because of my delay in getting there I did not videotape it - sorry to those who were counting on it. I hope to make up for any disappointment by getting some good video of New Year's fireworks in Tampa, Florida next week!

As for the display itself, while I thought it was rather good, to me, FAE's show was much too similar to their own from a year ago. Did anybody else notice that? The last half of the display especially seemed like a carbon copy of their 2007 performance... just with different music. In terms of product, types of music, synchronization, thematic concepts within segments, etc. there really wasn't any difference between 2007 and 2008.

I think that everyone on this forum who has expressed excitement in FAE, both this year and last, are justified in their excitement but I hope that their choreographer will find new inspiration for their next Montreal display.

On a final note, Mylene, I'm not sure if you have seen my video of Royal's Fire on Ice display from this year but it is on YouTube (I'll post a link when I get the chance). Considering it was the first display which you worked on, and considering the low quality of video we have to settle with on YouTube, if you wanted a DVD-quality copy I'd be happy to get you one. Also, wear that Habs jersey with pride on Saturday - I'll be in Pittsburgh that night watching the game in person!

Very happy holidays to everyone and enjoy BEM on Saturday,
Tyler

Hi TRae,

I worked for fire on ice too, i hope your filmed the FAE display, i'm ready to pay you for a copy

Hi Jerome,

Indeed, the fireworks were quite entertaining. I may attend the display presented by BEM this coming Saturday, but perhaps we may encounter each other there.

The weather, again, should be alright and substantially warmer than what was seen during FAE's display. With temperatures expected to be above freezing with even some light rainfall or mixed precip., skating conditions may not be at their best, but indoor skating is very much still an option.

Hi TRae,

I enjoyed the display quite a bit, my friend, likely because, aside from the bitter cold, it was my very first time for attending this famous event. Enkil and I had a great time as well, both before and during the display. I'm sorry to hear that you were mildly late for the recent display, as well as not being stationed in a favorable viewing location relative to the site. However, as long as you witnessed most of the display to some extent, then that's what's important. Usually, I'm quite a brisk walker, but I can be very slow when the ground is treacherous during the Winter, especially when ice is involved - I actually slipped and fell twice this season because of the thick solid layer of ice (from the previous freezing rain event) that lies several inches below the overlying snow. It was a little more challenging as well for me, merely because of the moderate slope leading to the Old Port coming from the metro. Conversely, climbing the incline coming back was a great deal tougher, particularly due to all the nearly latent ice coated on the sidewalks and patches of it on the adjacent roadway.

As for recording the display, I was initially considering in equipting myself with a camera and tripod, but I found that, for me at least, it is much too tedious, especially with all that Winter gear and the ground being fairly uneven to properly and conveniently position the tripod accordingly. If I do in fact attend BEM's display, however, I may bring my camera to take at least some footage. Again, I look forward to whatever footage you may have from the New Year's fireworks in Tampa, Florida. Enjoy the weather there, btw - lookin good.


***And to everyone, be aware of the winds tonight overnight (the 24th). I ran a few wind model simulations and we could be in for quite a gusty night (winds possibly gusting up to between 80-90 km/h, while sustained at 26-28 knots: 48 km/h+). Air pressure gradient models suggest the winds will be gusting particularly hardest in the West Island, the South Shore, Central and Southern parts of the island and the Southwestern tip of Laval. In any case, I wouldn't be surprised if it prompts a warning from EC later on. They will begin to wane Christmas morning, but it nevertheless looks to be a fairly windy, though mild, Christmas.

Again, happy holidays, everyone.

Trav.

For once, the weather might win... Not sure i'll be there tonite