I have it on good authority that the full schedule will be released in about 3 weeks time. You can be sure the news will but put up here just as soon as it's made public.

Paul.

Thank you very much for the update, Paul. So we can expect it sometime close to the 10th of March, but I still wonder what the reason(s) is behind the delay for releasing the schedule this year. Not that it matters, but it does invite curiosity.

Trav.

[/i]I have it on good authority that the full schedule will be released in about 3 weeks time. You can be sure the news will but put up here just as soon as it's made public.

Paul.[i]

3 weeks time from your post puts us at right around today. I'm getting antsy. When the heck are we going our fix. Sort of like a druggie, needing to score. Lol .
I'm really curious to get some info on the competitors and see if a few of the rumours I've heard will ring true.

So, yeah, today is exactly 3 weeks since Paul posted that message (I had March 10th stuck in my head ever since lol), so I'm sure we can expect the new schedule very soon.

Trav.

I have it on good authority that PyroMagic Productions will be producing this year's entry from Hong Kong/China.

Sean

We now have the full 2009 schedule:

Saturday, June 13 - Opening - Panzera
Saturday, June 20 - Spain - Pirotecnia Igual
Saturday, June 27 - UK - Pains Fireworks
Saturday, July 4 - Australia - Foti
Saturday, July 11 - Hong Kong/China - Pyromagic
Saturday, July 18 - Argentina - Fuegos Artificiales Jupiter
Saturday, July 25 - Quebec/Canada - Royal Pyrotechnie
Saturday, August 1st - USA - Melrose Pyrotechnics
Saturday, August 8 - South Africa - Fireworks for Africa
Saturday, August 15 - Closing - Concept Fiatlux
Saturday, August 22 - Award Ceremony

The jury will have 25 members, as it had from 1992 to 2001. The press release now states that we will have a 50-minute closing show. Surprisingly, it is also announced that the award ceremony will happen one week after the closing show, that is, on Saturday, August 22th and that pyrotechnic pieces will be fired that night. It may be a sign that the jury will work in a different way this year.

Fred

Woo nice shedule, melrose comeback and Fiatlux for closing display?

Exellent choice for 2009 shedule! Igual, Pyromagic, Pains, Foti, Melrose!! WOW!

WOW! A very special shedule again !!!! More conservative than other years but with a great level !!!

I'm happy to see Igual on there, I'm sure they're going to do a very special show again... they know very good the Montreal competition.

Very good to see Jupiter, Pains, Melrose Pyrotechnics and Foti again on the shedule. I enjoyed the Jupiter show in 2005, it was almost perfect. All three did winner shows on the last years with a very good quality.


It's great too to see the changes on the shedule. I said some times before that it could be great to see some other companies doing the closing ceremony.. and this year we got it ! Panzera is still ther but now on the oppening display! Very god idea !!

Nice to see again Fireworks for africa and Pyromagic there. And of course Royal, they were the winners of the 2003 season (am I right?)


In conclusion, GREAT GREAT GREAT shedule.

I'm not going to be in Montreal this year, but I'm sure this web page will share the videos with us like the last season.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH

that's a very nice schedule almost like a champion of the champions competition...
well im sure sure am hoping for the videos this year hihihi....

Regards to all..
Vander

Happy first day of Spring, all! The season officially arrives in about 6 hours (6:45 a.m EDT). However, it won't feel much like Spring this morning as a combination of bone-chilling temperatures and breezy Northerly winds will be present. A warm up is on the way, though.

Anyway, finally, the official schedule has been released, and just in time for Spring's arrival - thank you very much for that, Fred!

A few things to comment on. First, it's great to hear that the closing show will now be extended to 50 minutes in duration, but I find it odd that Panzera is not making the presentation, especially considering that this is the 25th anniversary. Any particular reason behind that? Also, will 30 minutes be allocated to the award ceremony? As for the jury, it's really nice to see a total of 25 members once again.

After all these years, I never thought I'd see a schedule like that - it looks so fulfilling. My favorite part of it, of course, is Igual representing Spain! I somehow knew Foti would return for Australia, as well as Fireworks For Africa for South Africa (they did a fastastic job in 2006) and Pyromagic representing China.

Can't wait to see how the schedule of 2009 will look on this website! What a unique season this is turning out to be, and hopefully with promising weather to back it up through to the end.

EDIT: Just to correct, Spring arrived 7:44-45 a.m EDT, not 6:45 a.m - I forgot not to factor in daylight savings with respect to GMT/UTC. Either way, the season has officially arrived.

Cheers,

Trav.

Salut

WOW!WOW!!WOW!!! Merci Fred pour la liste des firmes. Un choix vraiment formidable de la part de l'organisation des feux...tous des gagnants . Je suis très satisfait et j'ai bien hâte que cà commence.Que j'aimerais faire partie du jury qui aura la grosse responsabilité de désigner les gagnants. Je suis aussi d,accord avec cette semaine de délai entre le dernier concurrent et l'annonce des gagnants. Par expérience je sais que le risque de l'effet du feu le plus récent est réel. ..Il y a aussi le risque de moins se souvenir des premiers feux..J'aimerais bien lire des statistiques à ce sujet. Les mesures prises par l'organisation vont surement supporter le jury. Bravo.
Et maintenant que la fête commence!!!!et j'en serai.

Roger

Does anybody knows when we could know the theme and the music for each display? I don't know if we're close or if it's during the weeks before the competition.

Je partage l'enthousiasme de la plupart d'entre vous pour ce calendrier, que je désespérais de plus en plus de recevoir considérant les difficultés financières de Six Flags. Il s'agit d'une édition qui promet d'être à mi-chemin entre une saison régulière et une édition spéciale comme celle connue en 2004. Je savais depuis l'été dernier que l'édition 2009 ne serait pas semblable à celle du 20e anniversaire, mais la liste des participants (5 gagnants de Jupiter d'or sur 8 participants, aucune recrue) donne à croire qu'on a peut-être espéré, pendant un moment, rééditer cette formule qui avait rendu la saison 2004 si particulière. Ce sera sans doute pour le 30e anniversaire en 2014... si la tradition continue jusque-là!

On s'écarte cette année de la tendance des dernières saisons, avec l'absence de nouvelles firmes et le retour de participants moins de 3 ans après leur dernière participation. Mais personne ne se plaindra de revoir plus tôt que prévu Pains Fireworks après leur prestation de 2007! Concernant Pyromagic, il serait pertinent de savoir si le concepteur Patrice Guy est impliqué (comme en 2003) ou non (comme en 2007). La firme sud-africaine, la seule participante de cette année à ne pas être déjà montée sur le podium, avait offert un superbe spectacle en 2006 (ceux présents se souviendront de la panne électrique qui avait paralysé La Ronde ce soir-là... sauf les feux!).

Au rang des absents, je regrette qu'on n'ait pas profité de l'occasion pour permettre à l'équipe française de Brezac Artifices de tenter à nouveau sa chance de monter sur la plus haute marche du podium, après le Jupiter d'argent en 2006.

Personnellement, je ne suis pas un grand fan de l'orientation artistique qui caractérise Concept Fiatlux. Cependant, considérant que des performances du Cirque du Soleil seront vraisemblablement intégrées au spectacle de clôture, je pense qu'il s'agit d'un choix judicieux. Concept Fiatlux favorise les feux de proximité, les effets en basse altitude. En temps normal, cela contraste (négativement, je pense) avec l'ampleur du déploiement des autres firmes. Mais pour que l'arrimage entre la pyrotechnie et les acrobaties soit efficace, je soupçonne que cette orientation artistique particulière sera probablement plus appropriée.

Also, will 30 minutes be allocated to the award ceremony?

Trav, the press release only states that some pyrotechnic pieces will be fired the award ceremony night, on August 22th. I am sure that you should not expect one more 30-minute show that night. I suppose these pieces will be the same than those which burst as each winner is announced.

Je suis aussi d,accord avec cette semaine de délai entre le dernier concurrent et l'annonce des gagnants. Par expérience je sais que le risque de l'effet du feu le plus récent est réel. ..Il y a aussi le risque de moins se souvenir des premiers feux..J'aimerais bien lire des statistiques à ce sujet.

Roger, je ne sais pas si les membres du jury auront effectivement une semaine de recul pour faire leur choix final (ce qui impliquerait qu'on leur permette de réviser leur pointage des feux antérieurs, comme c'était le cas jusqu'en 2003), ce n'était qu'une hypothèse de ma part et, à l'heure actuelle, la seule explication que je vois pour justifier ce délai dans la remise des prix.

Concernant les statistiques, voici une mise à jour. Considérons les firmes ayant obtenu l'une des trois premières positions lors de toutes les éditions du concours depuis l'instauration d'un jury populaire (1992-2008). Sur ces 17 éditions, 1 des 17 premiers feux en compétition (6%) a été récompensé d'un Jupiter. À l'opposé, 11 des 17 derniers feux (65%) ont été couronnés d'un Jupiter. Si nous considérons les trois premiers feux en compétition lors de chaque saison, nous obtenons alors 10 gagnants sur 51 feux (20%). Parmi les trois derniers feux en compétition chaque année, 28 sur 51 (55%) ont reçu un Jupiter. (Aux fins de ces calculs, afin de standardiser l'analyse, les 3 finalistes de l'édition spéciale 2004 sont considérés comme des gagnants, même si seul un Jupiter platine était remis.)

Fred

One thing I have noted as unusual is that Fireworks for Africa are competing one week apart in the province of Quebec.

On July 29th the will be competing at the Loto-Quebec International Fireworks Competition at Montmorency Falls, then on August 8th at Laronde.

Past rules for Laronde have been that a firm competing at Laronde cannot compete in other competitions in Canada within the same year.

Sean

Fred,

Even if the fireworks are not expected to last for a full 30 minutes on August 22nd for the award ceremony, could we still expect a grand finale following the announcement of the winners, or will that traditionally be done at the end of the closing display taking place during the previous Saturday, the 15th? On a related note, is there any reason behind why Panzera should not present the closing display? I'm just curious because, with all honesty, I don't have too much confidence in Concept Fiatlux preparing an overall powerful display, including an appropriately strong finish. Then again, we haven't really seen powerful finales from Panzera since 2004, so who knows...

Sean,

It may be possible that the rule no longer applies, or else the African firm likely would not be permitted to compete in the first place if it did - either that, or some negotiation took place between both La Ronde and the firm ahead of time. I'm just wondering, but hasn't it occurred that several other firms in the past that presented at La Ronde competed elsewhere in Canada during the same year?

Anyhow, I'm not at all too sure how it works, but that would be my take on it. It is interesting to consider.

Trav.