The press conference for this year's competition is being held this coming Wednesday 27th May at 10:30am. As promised, this site will feature a completely new look afterwards! Most of the design is done, I'm just finalizing the details (mainly the look of the forum itself).

Paul.

I'm looking forward to see the new website design. I also hope that the press conference will bring us some explanation about the 1-week delay between the closing show and the award ceremony.

Being in charge of the press conference, I would also prepare some lines about the environmental impact of the fireworks, an issue which may be raised again following some articles published in La Presse last summer. (BTW, La Presse wrote that Disney's firework displays were more environmental friendly. I went to Disney World in January and I saw all three nightime shows which feature a pyrotechnic component: Whiches at Magic Kingdom, Illuminations at EPCOT and Fantasmic! at Disney's Hollywood Studios. I remain skeptical about the environmental value of these shows. It looked to me that pyrotechnic devices produce as many smoke as those I see at La Ronde. Moreover, Illuminations includes an inferno barge where a lot of kerozen burst every night.)

One intriguing information from La Ronde's invitation to this press conference is the launching of a book about the Montreal International Firework Competition history. Who is the author of the book? Is it a book mainly made of pictures (from Bob?)? Is someone from this forum behind this project???

Fred

Hi Fred. Sad to say, I have not been involved in the special book about the competition - which, given that I am now the longest serving reporter on the competition, is rather disappointing. I believe that Bob's photographs will form a majority of the content of the book, but I have no idea who has written the text. It would be intriguing if there was a special 25th Anniversary memorial DVD - but I doubt that will happen.

As for environmental impact of the fireworks, it's always going to be difficult to avoid the negative press that smoke generates. Much as the pyromaniacs amongst us love the smell of blackpowder smoke, it's hard to convince anyone that it is environmentally benign. I think a more interesting aspect, though, is the use of plastics in shell construction. This is definitely an area manufacturers can address as it's quite easy to state that paper and cardboard are biodegradable and therefore not an environmental problem. I think the biggest environment impact of fireworks is that they bring joy and happiness to the huge audiences that attend - in these depressing economic times I'm sure no-one could argue that this is a bad thing!

I'll post whatever information I get from the press conference on my return tomorrow, together with the site design change.

Paul.

Hi I'm very very excited about the new look of this web site. After reading your post I have some questions:

Can I buy the book you'r talking about ? Maybe on the official web page or Amazon... As I'm sure you know I'm not from Montreal, so it's impossible to attend to the Press Conference.

Another more question: I was planning to open a new topic about the Themes. The competition will start in less than one month and at this time we don't know anything about the music and themes. Does anyone know something about the Themes? On the official web page ther's no information.


Ant last but not least: Are you going to share the videos this season? I HOPE so. For me is the only way to see the shows. And believe me, for me to have the chance to attend the Montreal competition (even in video) is one of the best things of the year.

I'll be waiting for your answers. THANK YOU VERY MUCH !

I'll be updating all the forums tomorrow with a section for 2009 reviews etc. I presume the themes will be announced tomorrow ... you can be sure I'll post whatever information I can find.

For the book, I would think it will be available for sale. Maybe I could run a competition here on the forum with the book as a prize. I'll enquire tomorrow about the possibility of doing something like this.

As for videos, I'll do the same as last year. Maybe I'll have more time this year to get better quality versions up

Paul.

Hi Paul,

As always, we very much appreciate the news and updates.

On the issue of the environment, I think it would be a good idea to discuss the environmental impact of the fireworks, especially with the subject becoming increasingly talked about in recent years.

I'm not exactly sure as to how much more beneficial smokeless fireworks would be in substituting the more conventional ones altogether. One of the problems with smokeless fireworks, though, in accordance to what you've told me before, is that it can be rather difficult to produce certain effects, particularly those that involve any kind of tail. In general, too, smokeless fireworks can be rather expensive in their entirety.

I think the main argument is, according to most scientific research, the emissions that the fireworks themselves give off, such as sulfur oxides, heavy metals and carbon monoxide, in addition to smoke and dust. However, I personally would question how much it would take for fireworks to be considered significant to the environment. The thing is, much of the fireworks in use today are much less toxic than those in the past, and new possible alternatives have been and are currently researched. For example, I heard that using compressed air in substitution for gunpower can greatly reduce the amount of smoke and other associated pollutants. Similarly, I read that current studies are testing the use of nitrogen in place of gunpowder as a propellant, and the compound of nitrocellulose can be a replacement for perchlorate, helping to diminish smoke. Though most toxic chemicals have been banned from fireworks, I think barium is still allowed. However, there may be a safer method to produce the same effect, where researchers are looking into copper compounds as opposed to barium in order to produce the green color. Just of curiosity, but does anyone have a fair idea of the average total emissions discharged into the atmosphere per display (separately for sulfur oxides, carbon monoxide, etc.)?

And yes, been looking forward to the new look for this website. I guess that means that this is the last day of seeing the site like this. I find it pretty cool that the design has changed, so far, on a three-year interval.

Trav.

ABOUT THE BOOK...

All the images in the book are shared by me and Bob. I also happen to have the cover page, and the back page but I have no idea which image was used for the back yet.

But I have not seen the book either, did not hold it in my tiny little hands yet - can't wait to see it

It is a coffeetable book, with lots of images, I don't think there is a ton of text - it is about 9"x12"

Tomorrow is the press conference and the book will be launched - also the schedule of fireworks for the season will be described.
Will keep you posted - sorry I was unable to say anything until the deal was done - printing of the book only started on Friday, about 10 days ago.

Rachel

Here's my article on the press conference :

Mylene et Artifice

The site redesign is complete. Mylene's article above covers the press conference very well.

Let me know what you all think of the new look - I'm sure there's still one or two wrinkles to iron out! Also let me know if the special 25th anniversary logo gets in the way or not.

BTW, the coffee table book is very good - excellent photos from Bob and Rachel. It's going to be on sale for $25 both in book stores and, from what I can gather, at La Ronde too.

Paul.

Hi Paul,

What a surprise, indeed! You brought the gold text back along with a fairly dark background! I love the new look - it really reminds me of what the site used to look like in 2003-2006. The background picture is also fantastic. Is it a photo from the gallery on this site (it looks shot from La Ronde, given the bridge on the left)? Also, would it be possible to adjust the background picture such that the image would be entirely visible from top to bottom without making the text difficult to read at the same time?

Overall, it looks so much more like a fireworks site with the new design. Good stuff! Other than that, some of the tabs on the left are being concealed by the sponsor tag - you could always just shift it downwards.

Trav.

The sponsor logo should be in a better position now (in Internet Explorer - it was ok in Firefox of course). The photo is from a DVD of material given out at the press conference. To make all the picture visible would make a lot of the text hard to read unfortunately - but the idea of half hiding the picture is to add intrigue and get people to want to go and see the fireworks in person!

Other news from the press conference: there will be a special Jupiter this year for the soundtrack as well as special recognition for environmental awareness (I guess we'll see what is meant by that at the awards ceremony).

Paul.

Hi Paul,

Well, everything sounds and looks good then. The logo is also situated in a better location now (bottom left on my page).

And I'm really delighted with the news regarding the return of the special Jupiter this year, mainly because it both makes things a little more exciting and it also allows for an additional participant a chance to win something. I find the environmental awareness component to be most interesting - I'm curious if this partially involves the use of fireworks that are more environmentally friendly, among other things. On what grounds was the special Jupiter awarded in the past when it was a part of the competition? I seem to recall it being associated with a variety of standards.

Also, was there anything discussed at the press conference that covered why the awards ceremony should be held separately from the closing show? Similarly, was there any reason why the closing show itself is not being presented by Panzera? I'm not sure if this has anything to do with them being already scheduled to perform the opening display, though.

Trav.

Good day,

Can I get an update on the Press Conference?

I'm sure Mylene's article is excellent, but unfortunately I can't read French. Sorry.

Paul, the new look is better, but I'm not a big fan of the logo in the bottom corner. I have to scroll to read around some of the blogs.

Thanks again for putting together this forum for 2009. Look forward to your videos and reports this year.

Sean

YEAH. That's nice. Love thebetween the contrast beween the dark background and the gold letters.

I like the log, maybe its useless ( it could be a link to the official web page) however it's a good way to remeber the official site. The problem, as it has been said, is that sometimes it's dificult to read some posts...

However nice work !

I don't know why but I don't like the idea of giving new Jupiters. It's a fireworks competition, maybe an special recognition for the best soundtrack could be better than a Jupiter. Jupiters are for the fireworks, a very elitist award, not (from my point of view) for the soundtrack.

I've read the feedback and so I've played around with the 25th Logo (made it smaller and moved it to the left). I've also implemented a way to see the full background image through everything except the table cells of the forum - but it's visible through most everything else

Now for some more press conference news. First, the themes:

Opening: Happy Birthday!
Spain: Odyssey
UK/England: Mars and Venus
Australia: Dream Catcher
HongKong/China: Feng Shui Melody
Argentina: Carousel of Emotions
Quebec/Canada: Voila!
USA: Reel Love
South Africa: An Evening with the Stars

As for the special Jupiter, in the past it was given for various things and was given for the soundtrack in 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1992 and for the imposed theme in 1994. It was last awarded in 2000 to Benson and Hedges for their support of the competition (2000 was the final year of tobacco sponsorship). It has not been awarded since. If a special Jupiter is to be given, then it makes sense, to my mind, to award it to the soundtrack since the music is such an integral part of a pyromusical.

Paul.