For me one of the highlights of being in the Fireworks Industry is the fact that I get to travel the world. In the years I have been involved with Fireworks I have travelled to China, Spain, Germany, Ireland and many other places. One of the main aims of my travels is to buy Fireworks as well as to see other International Fireworks Display Companies in action. For the last three years I have had the privilege of travelling to Valencia in Spain to see the world renowned “Las Fallas” Festival. This cultural and religious festival which I believe to be a celebration of St James is a must for any traveller irrespective of the Fireworks.
The Celebrations start in late February or early March and continue for around a month, there are regular Parades and Flower Exhibits as well as Street Entertainers and the wonderful Cartoon like intricate sculptures which are ultimately burnt to the ground on the Final Night known as “Nit de Foc”. On the 16th – 19th March (those nights inclusive) there are literally Hundreds of Fireworks Displays both in the day and during the Night. The Daylight shows known as Masceleta are something else, they happen at 2pm and there are loads going off at the same time around the City. The small ones can be great fun, however it’s the Main City Plaza or Market Square where the big one happens. At around 1pm the Centre starts to get very busy indeed and you need to get there an hour early at least to get a good spot. As it gets closer to around 1.30pm they actually begin closing streets down and putting up barriers.
As 2pm approaches and there are 10’s of 1000’s of people packed into the Square there is a 10 minute warning in the form of a massive heavy Maroon which shakes the buildings in the City. Again Five minutes later there is another warning and at this point the crowd start to get excited, knowing that soon there will be an almighty onslaught of Maroons, Whistles and Smoke. With a minute or so to go and everyone’s eye is on the Main City Hall Clock Tower the crowd start to wave and whistle, you can feel the electricity and excitement as the First Maroon that Signals the start of the show Thunders through the streets.
Each show is unique and having seen probably 14 shows now no one has ever been the same, now to be fair as an expert and a bit of an anorak perhaps I am looking too deep into the detail. The aim of the show is to create as much noise as possible, but not just that on its own, the best shows I have seen have been almost like Music to the ears. Having a noticeable rhythm that the crowd =can pick up on is the aim, when a good one comes along you can see the 1000’s of heads and hands bobbing and waving in tune with the noise that’s been created. Extra to that is the actual vibration that you feel, the smell of Pyrotechnic Powder and the sheer noise that they make.
Some of the material is aerial and some is ground based and as the show progresses the pace builds as does the size of the material and the tone of the Maroons changes as they use small clusters and large single maroons.
One of the best I saw used an electrical firing system, picture for a minute a tennis court with large fist sized maroons hung from a rope around the circumference of the firing site, each one individually connected to a computer or some other form of electrical ignition. As part of the finale they ignite the first one and then there off falling and banging like falling dominos as each one goes off, the electrical current flying in a circular fashion, igniting them as the noise flies round the large firing site taking the noise to the other side of the Plaza and back round again….it stops, then whoosh back the other way with increased speed, then it stops again and then WHOOSH even faster back where it came from, the hairs on your body all on end.
As the Finale draws to a close you feel completely and utterly overwhelmed, all of your sense, Hearing, Vision, Touch all pulsating to their limits, your almost holding your breath and as the last Maroon echo’s across the city the crowd release there breath in a huge round of applause and cheer for more !
At 1st Galaxy Fireworks we use these amazing experiences to improve our own Firework Displays and shows, inspiring us to create such a level of excitement and anticipation.
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