Just two weeks before the scheduled opening display of the 2025 competition!

For the record, the schedule and the program of this year competition have been released while this forum was out of service: the schedule was released by La Ronde on (or around) March 25, then the line-up of contestants was communicated on April 29.

Thursday, June 26 BEM Fireworks / Feux d'Artifice (opening, «Viva Latino»)
Thursday, July 3 🇮🇹 Pyroitaly (1st participation)
Sunday, July 6 🇯🇵Great Sky Art (1st participation)
Thursday, July 10 🇨🇦 Blue Star Pyrotechnics (1st participation)
Thursday, July 17 🇨🇭 Sugyp (3rd participation, Jupiter bronze 2016)
Thursday, July 24 🇺🇸 Pyro Spectaculars (3rd participation as a competitive show, Bronze Jupiter 2007 + closing show 2015)
Sunday, July 27 🇫🇷 Lux Factory (1st participation)
Thursday, July 31 Rozzi Famous Fireworks & Panzera (closing, «Tribute to Taylor Swift»)

There are many recruits this year, it shall be interesting for Montreal audience to discover them. Sugyp and Pyro Spectaculars (Souza) have delivered excellent shows in Montreal, so it is good to see them on the program. Moreover, I was surprised (positively) to find another Japanese team on the list.

La Ronde confirms that laser effects are back this year. It remains to be seen whether the format (in 2024, 2 segments without any fireworks, for a total of 5 minutes per show) will be the same, or whether some minimal pyrotechnic effects will be allowed.

Beyond the program, La Ronde season pass holders can buy their add-on tickets for general admission access to the seating area online, once again. At the end of 2023 and in 2024, a QR code available in the park was required to buy them (while the corresponding URL link was working outside the park).

We shall also monitor other potential changes in the park which may be related to the merge between Six Flags and Cedar Fair. The «new» Six Flags management (basically led by those who previously ran Cedar Fair) has set ambitious goals to increase the number of visitors in their parks by 2028, and it is my understanding that legacy Six Flags parks are particularly targeted for such an increase. Unfortunately, I am afraid that scheduling most fireworks shows on Thursday nights, with no Saturday night shows, is not a good way to contribute to this goal.

Now, I only hope that current wildfires in the Prairies provinces won't cause a «sequel» to the 2023 movie and the cancellation of a show.

Fred

Are the opening and closing shows going to be laser free?

In a post on the IFLQ Facebook page yesterday, La Ronde wrote:

Les 6 spectacles pyromusicaux présentés par les pays en compétition incluront du laser. 5 minutes de technologie au laser par spectacle de 30 minutes : c'est le total d'un feu d'artifice que nous retirons; une pratique écoresponsable mise en place avec la firme Laser-Quantum.

The wording implies that laser effects wouldn't be featured in the opening and the closing show. In 2024, the opening show was laser free, but that was a show entirely designed to be presented in 2023 and had been postponed to the following season due to the wildfires; the closing show had laser segments, while not organized in the same way than during the competitive shows.

Fred