This little firing board above is designed to be a basic firing device for consumer fireworks. It allows the user to fire the fireworks remotely, thereby mitigating the risk of possible injury.

You can use it from a few feet away to 75 feet away, but remember, if you use it at a range less than the recommended safety distance the user must retire to a safe place.

Lets start at the clips. The clips are based on the original patented launch kontrol clips, but have been updated, they require less power to fire, and are more reliable than any non PCB based copy.

The guys at Launch Kontrol have added a fixed hinge for strength, furthermore they have decided to make the cable re-usable year after year. The connections are all gold-plated so the risk of corrosion has been massively reduced.

All you have to do is simply clip them onto the visco safety fuse. The extension cable which will set the range is based on a standard CAT5 off the shelf product but not suitable for copper coated aluminium or steel.

This provides 4 cues per board. The board has an arm button and 4 firing channels. Each board has an extension port to link an unlimited number of boards together. The cues and boards can be fired in any order.

Any board with a 9v battery can act as a master board or power re-enforcement by adding more batteries to fire simultaneous multiple cues.

All the units have been tested and the boards fired while submerged in water without any adverse effect.

Each starter box comes with 4 Pulse clips, link cable, 2m igniter connection cable with 4 connectors which plug into the top of the clip and a Cat 5 connector to extend the range.

Once the fireworks display has ended, you just clean the cables, remove the battery and store them for next time.

The only thing to be thrown away are the clips and the used fireworks.

We are still waiting for the prices to be confirmed. In the meantime what do you think? Would you buy one?

More pictures below.

The long-awaited video also contains the ‘ground zero footage’ inserted into the main display footage – it’s a steady start but then it goes MENTAL.

This year the display used the PyroSure firing system – and we reckon it’s probably the BEST firing system in the world.

We gotta hand it to you Mr Mike Knox – You are THE MAN

A big THANK YOU to David Carter, Joseph Friggeri and Nicholas Chase for the amazing firework pictures and video footage.

I am not referring to adverts which include fireworks as we have featured these on our firework blog a number of times, but an actual firework manufacturer/supplier who has made an advert in the UK?

In the new ‘Coke’ advert (coke has regularly featured fireworks in their advertising campaigns) the scene is a cinema theatre with rows of seats packed with people waiting for their film to start when up pops the man from the concessions stand, chatting about the new taste of ‘Coke Zero’ which they say is as tasty as regular coke and therefore cannot be distinguished because of its usual saccharine after taste. He gives them a bit more ‘schmooz’ and then tells the captive audience that they are all drinking the new tastier Coke Zero as he removes the double up cup to reveal this, the film cuts back to the audience who are revealing to their obvious astonishment that this is the case.

So I got thinking (I know, steady on) maybe the firework manufacturers should have a ‘fire-off’ to determine the best in each category but with a team of people who are simply lovers of fireworks and not connected with the industry or any particular brand or product. It’s the only way to get a genuinely un-biased view. What do you think ?

With an impressive list of clients including HRH Queen Elizabeth II, Richard Branson and the BBC to name just a few the second biggest pyrotechnics company on the planet also has had it‘s work associated with many blockbuster films including “the hunger games” and “Les Miserables” premiers.

Anyone who has been to see Cirque du Soleil, The Killers, or even the UEFA League Championship Finals would have witnessed the work of le Maitre and possibly not realised.

With a research and development team of seven, designing some of the cutting edge of special effects in the world, it is something us Brits can be proud of.

I have been using one of their products for some time without realising its history, as one of the first company’s in the business they patented the “Pyroflash” stage effects system which has been used in numerous gigs over the years to great success. Probably one of my biggest was a corporate “James Bond” event for a major UK bank where I used their pyrotechnic system to blow up sections of a stage in a simulated film scene.

Things look good for the 75 employees of the West London Company who are now also based in the USA.

Take a look at some of their stunning displays and wonder at the ingenuity of us British.

As true world beaters in the industry their indoor shows have wowed the world, I challenge you take a look at these effects and not be impressed.

We here at Epic would like to wish Le Maitre every success in the future and hope your innovations continue to mesmerize and dazzle pyro fans across the world.

Anyone wanting to put on your own outdoor show on a smaller scale, please feel free to contact us, or view our fireworks in action at www.epicfireworks.com We have a wide variety of DIY display packs which will be brilliant for birthdays, anniversaries or any other celebrations and can be delivered to anywhere in the UK.

Disco Stu

Usher Raymond, using the concept ‘it begins with a spark’ will liaise with the team from Pyro spectacular by Gary Souza to create a pyro musical display which will, I am sure, wow the viewing public.

He is planning to score the music using inspiration from his own discology and newly written pieces along with hits from Rhianna, Swedish House Mafia and two of music’s late great legends, Frank Sinatra and Jimi Hendrix.

The 37^th Annual 4^th July Fireworks at Macy’s will be fully choreographed to a cache of 40,000 pieces of pyro artistry for a spectacular 25 minute show.

The event has not been without controversy though as the venue changed four years ago to the Hudson instead of the East River mapping Henry Hudson’s journey into New York.  This was, as previously discussed meant to be a temporary arrangement but there is little indication of a move back.

Last year, the music was chosen for the display as a result of a Facebook campaign and whilst very good, it did feel a little like harking back to the 70s and 80s as most of the music featured was from around that era.

I am sure that whatever he puts together, you only have to take a peak at an Usher concert to see how OTT he can get and BLING all the way.

Further Reading: Related Articles About This Years 4th July Spectacular for Macy’s Firework Display

• Usher to Curate Music for Macy’s July 4th Fireworks Show in NYC
• Macy’s July 4th Fireworks Staying Put On Hudson
• Macy’s Fireworks display not moving; Usher will create the show
• Usher to curate music for July 4th fireworks show
• To Celebrate America’s Birthday, Usher Will Assault New York City’s Ears and Eyes
• ‘Round the Way: Usher to Curate Music for Macy’s 4th of July Show
• Usher to curate music for July 4th fireworks show
• Usher To Curate Macy’s 4th Of July Fireworks Spectacular
• Usher to curate music for July 4th fireworks show
• Usher to Curate Music For July 4th Fireworks Show

Sometimes I ponder the rationale behind using fireworks in celebration of winning wars or other political and religious fighting but it is very much the done thing nowadays. Think 4th July – the American War of Independence – the war with England for independence, Bonfire Night – religious fighting, Victory Day in Russia – the end of WWII and they are all celebrated with fireworks.

In some respects it is challenging the explosive power of bombs and artillery and changing them into something truly beautiful.

Yesterday evening for example the skies over Moscow were alight with the sights, sounds and aromas of fireworks as the people of Russia celebrated Victory Day in the heart of Russia. The public holiday is in recognition of the eventual overthrowing of Hitler’s Nazi regime and the end of World War II.

Whilst the UK lost over 450 thousand lives which was around 10% of the population of the UK and its colonies which at the time stood at just over 47 million, the Soviet Union lost a staggering 43.3 million lives, 27 million of which were serving in the armed forces.

In the years between the signing of the treaty and today, the celebration of Victory Day has come and gone a few times. However, when the enigmatic Vladimir Putin came to power in 1999, he wanted to promote celebration and pride of the efforts of the people who lost their lives fighting for freedom. His belief being along the same lines as our own ‘lest they be forgotten’ ethos but instead of the usual sombre military marches and laying of wreaths, they should be able to accommodate both acceptance that the war was hard-fought but ultimately good won out.

This year saw the usual military parade followed by a huge fireworks display. The fireworks were being fired from 14 different locations across the city and for 15 minutes all eyes were trained to the clear skies as they were filled with breathtaking colour explosions incorporating any number of different effects.

Mr Putin’s address to the gathered Russian Military forces and dignitaries was really touching:

“We will do everything, everything in order that no-one ever dare unleash war again. They will not threaten our children, our homes, our land. We will do everything to enforce safety in Russia. Glory to this nation of victors. Happy Victory Day. Glory to Russia’

It is clear that at least while ever Mr Putin remains at the helm, we can expect celebrations, parades and of course beautiful fireworks in recognition of the loves and lives lost in the name of war.

Telescopes and fireworks are hardly a synonymous combination, but it’s going to happen this time in celebration of Bernard Lovell’s 100th birthday when music meets science.

Bernard Lovell and Charles Husband were both responsible for the creation of the fantastic Lovell telescope in 1955. At 250ft it was the biggest steerable dish radio telescope of its kind in the World. The telescope originally referred to simply as the 250ft telescope was renamed after Lovell in 1987 and is still at the Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire.

The event in question will bring together beautiful music and the opportunity to see the sky at night via one of the three biggest and best telescopes available in the World as well as getting to grips with a little learning in the process.

The brilliant Halle Orchestra, conducted by Stephen Bell are to entertain the masses with a special astronomically themed list of compositions from classics like Holst’s Planet Suites, Mozart and John Williams with modern interpretations like the themes to Star Wars, Independence Day, ET, Apollo 13 and Close Encounters.

The event will further include science workshops alongside lectures and hands on experiments.

The celebrations will conclude with fireworks by the brilliant ‘Walk The Plank’ who were responsible for some spectacular displays like ‘Great Balls of Fire’ at London’s Victoria Park and ‘Ghost Ship’ in Portsmouth’s harbour, a show commissioned in celebration of the 500th anniversary of King Henry VIII’s accession to the throne. They use fireworks, lighting effects and HUGE screens to ensure that everyone attending can take part.

The event is on 31st August and costs £29.50 for tickets plus additional administrative costs if booked online. Children under 11 years can attend for free. Informative, educational and entertaining too – who wouldn’t?

There is great news for the folk of Detroit as Ford Motor Company announces that they have agreed to a multi million dollar sponsorship deal to support the fabulous annual fireworks display for the coming 3 years.

This year marks the 55th year of this event on 24th June 2013 when the City and the surrounding districts are treated to a full day of entertainment including:

• Archery
• Geocaching
• Treasure hunting called geocaching using GPS
• Sand Sculptures
• Tall ships
• Carnival and fairground rides and attractions
• More than 75 street performers including headliners like Kansas (carry on my wayward son) The Whispers (and the beat goes on – my absolute track of all time) Boys II Men (I’ll make love to you) and the brilliant Thornetta Davis who worked alongside such greats as Gladys Knight and Etta James

Admission to the event is just $3.00 and the fireworks are at a very specific 10:06pm and will be handled by several thousand technicians who will spend several days setting up this majestic display.

If you live in the area or get the chance to visit, let us have some photo’s or video footage and we will include them on our website.

Related articles

• Ford, Parade Company team up for Detroit fireworks
• Ford becomes lead sponsor of Detroit fireworks scheduled for June 24

Star Wars and Fireworks – Perfect it is!

May the forth be with you young padawan…..

Every year, on the 4th May, Disney’s fireworks take on a new theme with Star Wars at its heart.

Opening with a word from master Yoda, the fireworks begin to fill the skies. There is some very clever lighting and at points where the skies are allowed to ‘go dark’ or be free of any fireworks effects add to the magic of the event.

There are some simply staggeringly good fireworks which are perfectly choreographed to the Star Wars movie’s theme soundtrack which again has been very cleverly edited to create the ambience of the adventures of Luke, Obi-Wan and Yoda and their battles with dark forces. The clever use of colours to represent both good and evil are nothing short of brilliant as the dark crimson red bursts representative of the Sith and the Darth Vader and the blues and purples for Luke and his faithful friends.

The tension of the crowd is almost palpable as the fireworks representing the battles of the Star Wars characters come to life in the skies above.

Single horsetails fall majestically from the black spies followed by spinners and some of the pyro has been created to appear like space ships and the brilliance of the willow and palm effects are beautiful.

A fabulous concept which is truly breathtaking, thanks to the ‘Symphony in the Stars’ at Disney’s Hollywood studios.

7 WORLD CLASS FIREWORK DISPLAYS – 3 NIGHTS OF EXPLOSIVE ENTERTAINMENT – ONLY ONE WINNER

WHAT: The British Musical Fireworks Championships 2013
WHERE: Southport
NEW VENUE: Victoria Park
WHEN: Friday 4th October, Saturday 5th October and Sunday 6th October 2013
OPENING TIMES: 19:00 – 21:00

Every year, the skies over Southport light up to musical accompaniment as teams battle it out to be declared British Musical Fireworks Champions 2013.

The family friendly event will be held from the 4th to the 6th October 2013 at the new venue, Victoria Park as the original site is currently under re-development.

There will be seven breath-taking firework displays which will wow the crowds as the teams attempt to bring something new and innovative to this magical event.

From the first chord of the music to the final clap on results night, the British Musical Fireworks Championship is spectacular and supported by thousands of people from across the UK and beyond.

The British Musical Fireworks Championship is no ordinary competition, each competitor is required to synchronise their firework display to music, making each display no ordinary display and this event is one of a kind in the UK.

With 7 mind-blowing displays, its ‘s going to be a job and a half for the adjudicators to reach a decision about which of the magnificent competitors will be crowned champions for 2013.

The competing teams are as follows:

• KOMODO FIREWORKS
• PYROARTISTRY
• SIROTECHNICS FIREWORKS
• JONATHANS FIREWORKS
• SANDLING FIREWORKS
• FUSE FIREWORKS
• DRAGON FIREWORKS

The running order is as follows:

Friday 4th October 2013 – Komodo Fireworks (2012 Champions) and Pyroartistry
Saturday 5th October 2013 – Sirotechnics Fireworks, Jonathans Fireworks and Sandling Fireworks
Sunday 6th October 2013 – Fuse Fireworks and Dragon Fireworks

Tickets

Friday advance rate £5
Friday normal rate £7

Sat advance rate £7
Sat normal rate £9

Sat advance rate £5
Sat normal rate £7

Three day passes £15 (available on phone only) Tel: 01704 533333

Seated tickets in advance only Friday and Sunday £15, Saturday £20

All tickets are subject to a 4.5% credit/debit card charge, see the British Musical Fireworks Championship website for full details.

If you do get the chance to go along and support the British Musical Fireworks Championship, let us have your pictures and videos and we will feature them on a results blog later in the year

Good luck to all the competitors

When it was first televised in 2011, no-one knew that it was going to be a global hit and what a show it is. The plot lines are thick with intrigue and the line between the goodies and the baddies becomes ever more blurred as time goes by.

Here at Epic, we have watched every single episode and laughed, cheered and (in the case of Julie) cried at the trials and tribulations of all involved.

From the Lannister gentry at Kingslanding to the rather more hardcore Starks of Winterfell and the hard life of Daenerys Targaryen thrown to Khal Drogo who was lets face it a single step away from Neanderthal man, you cannot fail to be caught up in the day to day lives of these characters. I for one was absolutely gutted when Sean Bean (Eddard Stark) was killed off but the gauntlet has definitely been taken up by his children.

My favourite character is Tyrrean Lannister (played by the incomparable Peter Dinklage) who is nothing short of spectacular with his acerbic wit and more recently his softer more approachable side, particularly when it comes to dealing with Sansa Stark who is at the moment being passed round like a cheese board for everyone to have a nibble at.

We have seen dragons born and take their first kill, heads, legs and hands lopped off and more naked flesh than a Saturday night in Barnsley but none of this takes away from the fascination and sheer brilliance of Game of Thrones.

We have just passed the halfway point for this season and are already starting to look for when the fourth season will get under way.

Whilst we acknowledge that this is not a programme for everyone, it is fascinating and very different to the ‘cops and robbers’ or ‘sci-fi terra forming’ genre of most productions at the moment.

We have created our own ‘Iron Throne’ made up of our own epic fireworks – let us know what you think

Back in 1997, when the British returned the rule of Hong Kong back to China, the people of the island celebrated with fireworks.  By 1998, the crowds were in excess of a third of a million but these figures have continued to decline despite massive corporate sponsorship.

Sadly, following the loss of 39 lives in last years ferry crash, the government have made the decision to call off this year’s festivities as a mark of respect but they have also warned that as a result of a drop in interest they are debating whether or not to re-instate the event in the future.  There are mixed views from the locals but overall the people appear to be erring on the side of the government as 3:1 against re-introducing the display.

There are many however who think that a better and more appropriate way of celebrating the lives of those who perished would have been with a 2 minute silence and a stricter regime in regards to safety standards on board the boats and other pleasure craft taking people around the harbour.

The investigation into the crash clearly highlights that it is the whole disregard for the safety of the people using the pleasure craft that are being held to account as they described the ‘systemic failings’ of the marine department of the harbour in Hong Kong which is listed as the worst maritime incident in Hong Kong in the last 40-years.

We hope that in the future, they will reintroduce the event for the people of Hong Kong to celebrate their continued freedom and celebrate as only the Chinese really know how … WITH MASSIVE FIREWORKS

Here at Epic we keep our eyes peeled for all that is firework related and the Edinburgh International Festival is one of the biggest summer firework events in the UK annually.

For a number of years, Edinburgh have held the festival beneath their Castle with music provided by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.  There have been some concerns in regards to the funding for the spectacular fireworks show but thanks to Virgin Money the organisers can breathe easily for the next 2 years.  The show will feature more than 100,000 fireworks being fired off Edinburgh Castle Rock will cost Mr Branson around ¼ million pounds annually.  The sponsorship deal is one of the biggest of its kind involving the Arts in Scotland.

This event which has been a massive crowd-puller since 1982 will once again be part of the summer scene until 2014 when the main event organiser, Jonathan Mills plans to hand over the baton to someone else who will now have the added task of gaining funding too.

The 45-minute Festival Fireworks will take place on 1^st September 2013 and will mark the end of the festival which runs from 9^th August 2013 and tickets for all the events are widely available but seats for the concert are limited so book early.  The concert itself is being broadcast on the radio so if you can get a decent vantage point, you can see the fireworks and listen to the concert for free!!

This years winners of the prestigious Da Nang International Fireworks Competition 2013 is team USA represented by the fantastic pyro team from Melrose Pyrotechnics Inc.

Following on from their major win at the Hanabi World Cup in 2010, this is a fantastic accolade to add to their already substantial haul of awards.

The American team wowed crowds and quite simply blew the competition away with their spectacular display.  Featuring 20-minutes of highly dramatic sky artistry set against the back-drop of a clear black sky and reflected off the Han River, it was nothing short of BEAUTIFUL.

The rest of the results:

1^st runners up Parente Fireworks of Italy

2^nd runners up Tamaya Kitahara of Japan

3^rd runners up being shared by the fabulous hosts Da Nang and Russia’s representatives Khan fireworks who all put on some spectacular displays.

Well done to all the competitors taking part and making this a spectacular example of how stunning pyrotechnics are.

Related articles

• The United States wins fireworks competition in Da Nang

Back on 20^th November 2008, American pyro specialists Fireworks by Grucci were commissioned to create the display to beat all displays for the celebrations to make the opening of the Atlantis and the Palm Jumeriah in Dubai.

It was set to be the biggest and most challenging display ever undertaken.

The Hotel and resort was built on reclaimed land which created its ‘island resort’ feel.  Based on the mythological Atlantis with some distinct Arabian features added for good measure the place is nothing short of HUGE.  It has 1500 guest rooms ranging from your basic opulent family suite to underwater suites which look directly into the Ambassador Lagoon, an 11 million litre marine habitat which houses 65,000 fish.  It almost represents the view you would expect in Atlantis.  With 20 restaurants and a huge water-park (naturally) it is spectacular.

The opening ceremony was months in the planning and the guest list contained so many A-list celebrities it must have been difficult to know where to gawp first especially when they were treated to a performance by the lovely Kylie Minogue.

The firework display took a team of 250 pyro technicians two weeks to set up and the result was billed as ‘the largest fireworks display of all time’.

To give you an idea of the sheer scale of this ‘super display’, consider these points:

• Over quarter of a million shells, mines and comets
• Almost 800 firing locations
• 46 computers with 36,000 firing cues (fire-one of course)
• 80km of cable
• Cost $6 million
• All gone in 9 minutes (that’s an average rate of 463 per second!!!)

Regrettably, as good as it was, in Kuwait 2012 they outdid their neighbours in Dubai in celebration of the Golden Jubilee of its constitution, they spent a staggering $15,000,000 on the 77,282 fireworks which were fired by the fantastic Parente Fireworks.  The display lasted almost an hour.  The result was that they achieved the new Guinness World Record for the biggest display.

Personally, I fail to see the comparison between the two as the Atlantis display was far more technical and more artistic than the Kuwait one but however you feel about them, they were both brilliant and lets face it, the door is open now for the next mega hotel opening or jubilee event in the UAE to out-do the ‘Jones’s’ so treating us to another magnificent and powerful firework display.

I know that it has been a long time in the offing but it would appear that despite our original reservations that Spring was simply going to give the UK a miss this year and have a two-day Summer and then skip to another Winter … it feels like a scene off Game of Thrones …’WINTERS COMING…’

But, as you can see from all the adverts recommending that we all put on some moisturiser with a ‘hint of sun’ or depilate those hairy monster legs hiding away under your skinny jeans, it would appear that Spring is definitely here.

With this in mind, we are seeing a marked increase in the number of orders and oddly enough we are already discussing with some of our more discerning customers the new additions to the range and the arrival of some of the biggest sellers, like the Sky Thriller rocket or any of the rocket volleys (which were on the shelves for all of about four days if memory serves) in time for Bonfire Night.

In a time where as a woman I have resorted to begging my hubby to read the damned instructions on a thing before attempting to put it together I feel a little perturbed by the fact that there are some men actually PLANNING!!   These men are not to be confused with the local Scout Leader who already knows what he wants and the budget is already set and the dog-eared brochure has been leafed through until it is a shadow of its former self, they are normal men who have decided through the long dark nights we have suffered for the last few months to take the time to plan ahead for what appears to be their first foray into the world of pyro.

2013 season is fast approaching and we are currently doing well in respect of weddings and celebrations but until we the British public feel that Summer is actually here to stay (even if only for a couple of days – remember 2007!) and we can break out the barbecue again we will not be prepared.

Come and see us, chat about what your plans are for Bonfire Night this year or if you have a special event like a 50^th Birthday (mines next year in case you were thinking of saving for a pressie!) an anniversary or your upcoming nuptials, we can help you and your loved ones have a party to remember.

Why not make the most of the lovely weather we are expecting from this weekend and have a drive out to the Derbyshire Peak District and call in to see us on your way home.  We are literally 2 minutes from the M1 or off the road to the Woodhead Pass which passes through some of the most breathtaking scenery the UK has to offer.

Caparisoned Elephants, fireworks, massive brightly coloured umbrella’s (Kudamattom) and music from traditional Dohli drummers and pipers can mean only one thing, its festival time again.

The South Indian district of Kerala played host to tens of thousands of people this weekend as the biggest Temple Festival took place in Kerala – Thrissur Pooram.  This temple festival was introduced in the 18^th Century by King Sakthan Thampuran and today features over 100 elephants bedecked in bright colours and ‘blinged’ the like of which you will only see at an Indian Wedding.

The festival features a parade in which the drummers, pipers and elephants make their way to the centre as they merge from the East and West, representing their temples for 36 hours of celebrations in the City.

Historically, the Thrissur Pooram was initiated following an incident at the original gathering of all the temples.  Due to the heavy rains leading up to the event, there had been flooding due to fast rainfall resulting in the representatives from some of the temples being late and subsequently refused the opportunity to take part.

So incensed by this action, they approached the Sakthan Thampuran to tell him of their plight.  On finding out about the slight, he decided to create his own event featuring the temples from the East and West who could come together to celebrate.

Here we are, over a century later and the event is now the biggest of its kind in India.

Fireworks (Pakal Vedikketh) mark the finale of the event and light up the sky overhead with beautiful fireworks which are made in their own country.  We have been following the travels of two brothers from the USA who are making a film about the firework industry from around the World.  They have been to China and are currently filming in India and they were on hand when the fireworks were being set up and made to see first hand what goes in to putting on a display for what was essentially tens of thousands of people.  They discussed the role of fireworks in the festival and found that they are intrinsic to the honour bestowed on the Hindu god Shiva.  The Indian people set up the fireworks shells in fields in rows of hand-dug holes which are then linked by black-powder and hand crafted quick match so that they can be lit to coincide with the cadence of the dholi drums.

Related articles

• Thousands witness Thrissur Pooram in Kerala
• Thousands witness ‘Thrissur Pooram’ in Kerala
• Grand finale to Pooram

There is little more loved than a combination of things most of us know and love – TV theme’s and Fireworks.  With some instantly recognisable themes like Seinfeld, Cheers and Friends, it would be difficult not to sing along.

The annual fireworks display is one of the largest of its kind in the USA and is said to set the scene for the forthcoming Derby Festival, the home of the world-famous Kentucky Derby.

The event, which began way back in 1990, uses an average of 25 tonnes of pyro which is laid out on multiple barges on the river as well as lining the banks and on the bridge which spans the beautiful Ohio River.

The fireworks this year are once again being handled by one of the firework industry’s forerunners, Zambelli International Fireworks own master pyrotechnician Ray Loffredo.  No stranger to pyro-musical, Mr Loffredo and his team are world leaders in technical innovation and are responsible for some arguably the most beautiful displays in the World and they choreograph and create over 1600 shows annually to the delight of tens of thousands of people.

Zambelli Fireworks set up in business when they moved from their native Italy 120 years ago and they have never looked back.

The Thunder Over Louisville event was moved in 1991 and grew and grew.  In 1997, they added an airshow into the mix and today, it remains one of the biggest events in the firework calendar.

Related Thunder Over Louisville articles

• 24th annual Thunder Over Louisville kicks off Kentucky Derby Festival
• 24th Annual Thunder Over Louisville kicks off Kentucky Derby Festival
• Zambelli family begins preps for Thunder
• Thunder Over Louisville Fireworks 2012…
• Ohio River span closes to prepare for Thunder
• Thunder Over Louisville closures begin Thursday
• Thunder Over Louisville guests urged to plan ahead

The festival enters its 12^th year of competition and continues to grow in strength.

Fireworks today form part of the celebration for Malta’s accession to the European Union but they have been heavily involved in festivities going back over many hundreds of years, often (as in most of Europe) in place of celebratory gun-fire.  The Maltese would always have fireworks on special occasions for example, the birth of a new member of royalty, the election of a new Pope (very appropriate at the moment following the election of Pope Francis) or in recognition of one of their army’s victories.

This year, the running order is as follows:

26/4/2013 – MARSAXLOKK – Competition day 1

Focs d’ Artifici Europla -  Spain

Mount Carmel Fireworks – Malta

Lieto Fireworks – Italy

28/4/2013 – GOLDEN BAY – Competition day 2

Tal-Gilju Fireworks – Malta

123 Feuerwerk – Germany

Pirotecnia Minhota -  Portugal

30/4/2013 -  VALETTA – Competition winners announcement and finale

Traditional fireworks

Announcement of the Winner of the Malta International Fireworks Festival 2013

Finale – A beautiful pyro-musical display by PyroEmotions of Italy

Whatever the reason, Malta’s fireworks festival remains one of the biggest in Europe and long may it continue.

There is a lot of talk of late surrounding an Opera called the Firework Makers Daughter.  The opera by composer David Bruce is based on the Philip Pulman novel of the same name following a string of successful chamber music performances it has continued to grow in popularity and is said to be an excellent representation of the novel.  Very colourful and family friendly it contains 3 big firework displays (all part of some ingenious stage trickery) and it is high energy performance throughout.

The plot surrounds the adventures of Lila, the daughter of a firework maker who aspires, despite being a girl, to be a firework maker like her father Lalchand.

The story follows the exploits of Lila who not only learns how to create ‘crackle dragons’ and ‘golden sneezes’ but it also follows her on her perilous journey to face the fire fiend.

She sets off on her adventure with her two unlikely accomplices a talking white elephant called Hamlet and his caretaker Chulak.

It is a moralistic tale about self discovery and personal courage, good fortune and friendship.

The Opera continues at the Royal Opera House until Saturday 13^th April then moving onto Walford Palace Theatre May 17^th and 18^th.

As a lover of both classical music and fireworks, there is little that makes me happier than when it is possible to combine the two.

This year, Classic FM will be hosting an event on Thursday 25^th April which will feature some amazing performances, brilliant music, a world premier of new works from resident composer Howard Goodall.  All this will be capped off with a spectacular fireworks display.

This spectacle will further feature compositions by the well-known Mozart, Verdi and Tchaikovsky but will also include works by Bernstein, Karadaglic and Bruch.

The finale is of course the wonderful 1812 overture by Tchaikovsky which will also feature fireworks.

Tickets for the event can be purchased either directly from Classic FM’s website or http://www.viagogo.co.uk/Arts-and-Theatre-Tickets/Classical/Classic-FM-live-Tickets

Fireworks are enjoyed year-round by people, but can be a source of fear to many animals.  This is not necessarily something which has to cause problems for the pet owner provided they take some precautions in respect to finding them somewhere they feel safe.

Ensuring that your pet has somewhere to hide and that more importantly they have access to this area at all times is imperative.  Whilst this ‘Den’ could be a cupboard or under the kitchen table or bed, let the animal choose wherever possible and let them have their favourite toy or blanket too as this will add to the security.  If you are going out to a display, just ensure that all curtains, blinds and doors to lessen the impact of the noise and lights.

Watch for signs of stress as dogs may tremble, pace, pant and become very needy for attention which could be completely out of character.  Cats usually hide (sometimes in the most inappropriate place) but this is their coping strategy.  Leave them alone with a means of escape of course provided that the hiding place will not add to the danger (cats have been known to hide behind fires, up chimney’s and under floor-boards).

If your display is going to be in your own garden area, you could consider going for quieter firework selections to lessen the impact and again, try to keep them inside and out of the way of the children and other visitors as animals can be very unpredictable when they are afraid.

There are also some natty devices and recommendations made from the RSPCA and associated animal charities which will be happy to offer full help and assistance to anyone who has an anxious pet.

Sounds scary – In the long-term, your dog needs to learn to be less afraid of noises and therefore may benefit from a treatment offered by the RSPCA called sounds scary.  It’s a CD based therapy to lessen the impact of noise on animals as it incorporates the sounds of crowds, trains, planes, cars and much more.  They recommend playing the CD on low to start with whilst you carry on with your normal chores around the home.  It is best not to make a fuss even if your pet does react as they take their lead from your reaction.  Daily, the volume should be increased until the dog barely acknowledges the noise any longer.

One of the most popular intervention therapy forms used is the DAP or Dog Appeasing Pheromone.  This is a highly effective animal scent which humans cannot detect but is the same as the smell created by nursing dogs for their puppies and the plug in should be used 24-hours a day for 2-weeks before BFN.

There are of course some homeopathic remedies too and one of the most popular are the Bach Flower Remedies.  They should be added to drinking water for a day or two before BFN for best effect – Contact your local Bach Remedy consultant for more details on which will best suit your needs for your pet.  They can be used on all animals including dogs, cats and importantly horses and small animals too.

Finally, a product which we have discussed before – the Thundershirt.  This brilliant product uses gentle, constant pressure to calm your dog, effectively aiding anxiety, fearfulness, barking and more with an 80% success rate.  Costing around £30.00 for cats and dogs, it can also be used when visiting the Vet to lower anxiety.  Details can again be found at most quality pet stores.

If you need help or advice on which of the Epic line are best suited to pet owners, please get in touch.  Alternatively, there is some help and advice available to pet owners via the following link:  http://www.dogsandfireworks.com/

Held in one of Spain’s largest cities, the Feria De Malaga (or fair of Malaga) has been running for the last 526 years and 2013 will once again see a fantastic program of entertainment which is certain to capture the imagination of the masses.  The celebrations take place in the beautiful city of Malaga and involve the beach, monuments and of course churches.

The event begins the second Friday in August during the hottest part of the year when temperatures on the Mediterranean reach a balmy 86 degrees Fahrenheit.  Starting on a Friday, the celebrations last for 10-days and attract over a million visitors.

The show kicks off with a huge pyro musical fireworks display on the beach and you can enjoy the party atmosphere with food available from any of the concession stands set up on the shoreline.

The entertainment is a rich and varied as the Spanish people with some dressed in traditional flamenco outfits, musical theatre groups, bars, DJ’s and much more.

The fireworks display is second to none and features some spectacular shells and having been lucky enough to visit the event in 2003 with my family (whilst on holiday in Fuengirola) I have to say, with the event being on the beach front, the cool breeze off the Med (if you are lucky enough to get one) is a welcome addition.  The party goes on into the wee small hours for those not taking part in the parade on the Saturday!!

There is some pretty beautiful shells with hearts, faces and spaceships along with more than a couple of staggeringly large glittering sphere’s which just hang in the air as if begging to stay there which makes it difficult to choose a favourite.  The show starts at 23:50 with the ‘proclamation of the fair’ and then the fireworks start at midnight to music.

Every day from late morning, well into the evening the city is filled with music and traditional dancing with horses and riders adorned in traditional Andalucian costume it is a spectacular sight and one that any discerning firework enthusiast should add to their bucket list.

Here at Epic, we appreciate that not everyone will appreciate loud fireworks.  As such, we have compiled a quick reference guide to cover all of the low noise fireworks that we have available in our range at this time.

These items will focus mainly on visual effects and colours rather than the usual screeches and reports making them family friendly for all, including the very young and elderly.

Bazooka Bomb - Excellent value pack of rockets which will not break either the bank or the sound barrier for a pack of 5 rockets at £2.16 INC vat each rocket equates to 43p each.  Mixed effects including crackles, falling leaves and purple and blue stars.  The noise level is 2/10 so brilliant for all the family.

Cascade - 90 shot barrage by marvel fireworks is a great mix of effects including red, purple and green pearls and lasting around 45 seconds this is a great little piece to add to any show and costs £8.10 inc VAT (RRP is £14.99)  Noise rating 1/10

Cinder Cones - A great little garden display fountain representing excellent value for money at 60p each item.  The three little fountains will offer differing effects including silver and gold sparks and crackles.  Noise rating 2/10

Falling Leaves - This lovely little barrage gives you 23 shots including gold glitter, falling leaves, red, gold, green, yellow and white stars and a fanned finale of bombettes and silver comets.  Lasting around 50 seconds this is rated 3/10 for noise and costs £24.95 inc VAT (RRP £39.99)

Superstar Selection Box - This wonderful little selection box from Marvel fireworks contains 13 mixed effect fireworks costing £3.24 and has a noise rating of 2/10  Containing a number of fountains, a couple of mines and a Catherine wheel, like its compatriot Comet Dust, it represents excellent value for money.

Comet Dust Selection Box - Another low noise selection box containing 11 small fireworks with 8 mixed fountains 2 multi-shot roman candles and a single Catherine wheel.  This is a great value box which ticks all the boxes for those who are unsure whether the little ones will scream the place down before you go out and buy some display items!!

Glitzy Blitz Fountain - The Glitzy Blitz provides a fantastic 10 metre tall shower of molten lava that keeps going and going, engulfing the surrounding area with beautiful bright light.  Low noise rating of just 2/10 this spectacular fountain is staggeringly good - Excellent for weddings and very popular for the festival of Divali.

Gunpowder Plot Barrel - This pack of five rockets is priced at just £2.88 making each of the rockets costing just over 57p each represents great value for money.  Furthermore, each of the rockets has a different effect which is detailed on the rocket so you know in advance what to expect.

Halo Fountain - This beautiful fountain from Standard fireworks is perfect for the garden or a small display and with a noise rating of just 2/10 it has some lovely effects including yellow, red and blue stars.  Costing £2.70 each they are great value for money too.

Ice Storm - Another beautiful fountain from Standard fireworks is again perfect for all the family as it is low noise and brightly coloured.  Whilst these and the Halo are categorised as garden fireworks, we know from experience that thanks to the price and the excellent duration they are also included in many semi professional displays as they reach high into the sky and the colours are particularly vivid.  Noise level 3/10

Magic Stars - This is a lovely little barrage which is great again for those who find noise a little disturbing.  Rated with a noise rating of just 1/10, this fires 24 shots of coloured red, green and gold comets high into the sky and lasting around 20 seconds it is great value for money at just £1.20 including VAT.

Moving Target - A great addition to any display and a beautiful piece which whilst very quiet, is really bright with 105 shots fired in a spectacular zig-zag pattern.  Fast firing this one is great when fired either alone or in multiples.  Costing £10.80 inc VAT, they are half the RRP and would be suitable for all the family with a noise rating of 2/10.

Silver Spirals - This is one of my own favourites as it can be used either alone or incorporated into a display.  This 16 shot barrage sends spiralling silver tails skywards and although a little louder with a noise rating of 5/10, it is still suitable for most of the family and with a very reasonable price tag of £3.95, it will be a great addition to your show.

Top Hat - The Top Hat is a brilliant little fountain from Standard Fireworks, with several different effects and an excellent duration. With effects including red, green stars, and crackles. This really is a superb garden display fountain with excellent value and effects.  With a noise rating of just 2/10 and priced at £4.32, this has been one of our biggest sellers for the last couple of seasons.

The fact of the matter is, we offer you the best value for money and the best products on the market at massively reduced price as we buy in bulk to enable us to sell them on to the customer for less than anywhere else.  If you are passing along the M1, come along to see us just off J36 of the M1 heading to Sheffield North and we are here 7-days a week.  So whether you are looking for a small pack of fireworks for your child’s birthday party or for a special family gathering of any sort, let us know and we will do our best to make it a party to remember.

For those of you who are like all the staff at Epic, huge fans of the hit TV show Game Of Thrones, we are definitely feeling as if this is the ‘Winter’s Coming’ that they have been awaiting in the first and second series as we face another day of the white stuff.

Over the years there have been some pretty spectacular weather conditions to contend with but the Met Office agree that none more so that this year by comparison to last March when we were all wearing t-shirts in temperatures in the upper 60’s.

In March 1979 there were 15 inches of snow as the weather conditions continued to worsen for 41 hours straight. The highest actual snowfall so far is 11 inches but the remainder is due to drifting snow which we have not experienced for many years.

Now I don’t profess to be a meteorological expert, but having made the comment last Autumn that there was a higher than usual amount of elder berries on the tree in my garden, and that we were I suspected in for a particularly bad winter, I say move aside Michael Fish, we have a Juju.

It is therefore important than ever before that you ensure your fireworks are kept dry.

This Easter weekend, one of our customers is holding a fireworks display at their wedding reception. So, we sent them off armed with sticky tape, a black marker and a roll of cheap white pedal bin liners to seal each barrage up in their own bag. What we recommend is that whilst indoors, expose the fuse and put the barrage into one of the pedal bin liners and seal it up. Use the black marker to indicate where the fuse is and using the firing order we have supplied, number each of the products in their running order. The bags will keep all the fireworks dry and the marker helps in identifying where the fuse is and also which one to fire when.

The fireworks we sell are more than capable of penetrating the bags and the resulting firework display will testify to this. We are open all through the Bank Holiday weekend and will be open from around 9:00am to 3:30pm. If you need to come a little later, we are happy to wait for you but we would recommend that you call to let us know particularly in light of the weather conditions here at Tankersley.

We continue to stock a massive range of fireworks and have everything to suit your needs and budget on site at our huge bespoke showroom in South Yorkshire.

Hannover in Northern Germany plays host again this year to the 23^rd International Fireworks Competition.  Set against the beautiful backdrop of the Royal Gardens of Herrenhausen, this fantastic competition brings together the best in the World to battle it out again this year to be crowned winners at the end of September.

The gardens, consist of 50 hectares of lawn, hedge-row, walkways and statues and are nothing short of spectacular.  Since the last event, the long-awaited re-opening of Herrenhausen Castle took place on 17 January 2013.  Whilst the exterior maintains the ‘historical palace’ in appearance, the interior is in contrast very modern.  The reconstruction was financed but he Volkswagen Group and the building will, in the future, host academic, musical and social events as well as a museum.

The castle was originally damaged during WWII during a bombing raid (despite the Air Force being advised to ensure that the castle did not suffer damage by the British) 70 years ago.  Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice were both in attendance for the re-opening, representing their grandmother, HRH Queen Elizabeth II.

The countries being represented at this year’s International Fireworks Competition are:

25^th May 2013 – Team Portugal - Grupo Suso Pirotecnia

8^th June 2013 – Team France - Intermede

24^th August 2013 – Team Czech Rep – Flash Barrabdov Special Effects

7^th September 2013 – Team Italy - Pirotecnica Morsani

21^st September 2013  - Team South Africa – Fireworks for Africa

This annual event attracts visitors from across the World and has continued to thrill spectators for the past 23 years with some truly breathtaking fireworks.

The teams must perform a 25 minute display with or without music and include a 4-minute compulsory section, a specified number of ground elements but other than that, to coin a phrase ‘the skies the limit!!’.

Last years winners were Portugal with the wonderful team from “Grupo Luso Pirotecnia” who will have the pleasure of kicking off this year’s competition on 25^th May.

Aside from being the birthplace of Paella, the City of Valencia is also famous for the Las Fallas festival.

The Las Fallas festival is a traditional commemoration of one St Joseph (day of the father) and represents one of the two most famous events in Valencia annually. This year held from 1st to 19th March 2013.

The festival is thought to have started many centuries past when the city’s carpenters used to burn old pieces of scrap wood and worn out wooden utensils collected through the winter as celebration of the feast of St Joseph.

The modern Las Fallas was created in the 19th century when prizes were awarded for the most creative use of leftover materials. Over time, there have been occasions when the Fiesta was banned as in 1870 when some of the images were not well received by local political representatives.

Nowadays, every year the ‘Fallas’ are created by numbers of different groups established specifically for the purpose of creating sculptures including puppets or dolls made from pappier mache to be burned on the last night of the festival. Up to 700 examples of these Fallas are created annually.

Some of the Ninot (dolls or puppets) are up to 20ft tall and will be mounted on their own Fallas as representation of religious, historical and political figures. The groups tasked with creating these wonderful pieces are known collectively as Casal Faller.

The first day is when the competing Fallas all have to be ready to display and any not completed will not be included in the judging. The second and third days are dedicated to a Catholic Procession called La Ofrenda where flowers will be brought to the central plaza and added to a wooden framed statue of Mary and the bands will play music with a sassy Latin flavour. .

There are 5-days of continuous partying processions and residents and visitors to the area are treated to a variety of firework displays every day and the streets are littered with pyro debris. There are representatives from around Europe all assisting in the lighting of the massive amount of pyro on offer.

Each day of this festival begins at 8.00am with a wake up call from the brass bands marching down the streets of Valencia and surrounding districts and they are followed by the fallers throwing large firecrackers in the street as they go.

The Mascleta is a pyro-musical display which takes place in each neighbourhood at 2pm daily. The pyro-technicians compete for the honour of providing the finale ‘Mascleta’ of the Fiesta.

El Castillo is the final night of the festival and at Midnight, a display of fireworks which lights up the sky and will contain several tons of pyro makes this a magical place to be.

The finale night of the festival is known as the ‘Crema’ (or the burning or cremation). All of the Ninots are then placed back onto there Fallas where the fireworks are lit first before the fire begins, reducing it all to ashes.

This year of course the festival has the added facet of having had a new Pope elected during the festival and as the festival is mainly for the Catholic faith, I am sure that the event will be more relevant than ever.

The Da Nang International Fireworks Competition takes place on the 29th and 30th April 2013.

This year’s competitors are a truly ‘international’ selection and are from all corners of the World.

The competitors are:

Parente Fireworks A & C SNC (team Italy)

Centre of Fireworks – Khan (team Russia)

Tamaya Kitahara Fireworks Co. Ltd (team Japan)

Melrose Pyrotechnics Inc (team USA)

Team Da Nang (team Vietnam)

Parente Fireworks have been in the pyro business for over 100 years and their use of cutting edge technology and beautifully crafted pieces help them to create something a little special. The team from Parente hold around 600 shows a year and were responsible for the fireworks for the World Cup.

Centre of Fireworks (Khan Fireworks) from Russia are next up. It all began for this company in 1993, so for the last 20 years they have been entertaining the masses with their spectacular musical pyro specialities, and have proven themselves many times in the competition arena as runners-up at the Cannes International Fireworks festival in 2011 and then another silver at the International Fireworks Festival from Zagreb in Croatia in the same year. Their work is truly brilliant and as one of the lesser known competitors it adds that little extra dimension of mystery to this heavyweight of occasions.

Tamaya Kitahara Fireworks Co Ltd say that their success in choreographing some beautiful pyro to music is does to the very latest in available technology. The team from Japan are no strangers to the international competition arena having come a very close second place in the 2011 Macau International Fireworks display contest and achieved another runner-up place at the 2nd Philippines International Pyromusical Competition.

Founded in 1982, they employ 20 staff for office, sales and delivery duties and then around 100 display team specialists. Importing most of their products from Hunan Province in China they have a long and solid tradition with pyrotechnics. The team have massively improved their choreography and hopefully will be able to lay down the gauntlet at this competition.

Melrose Pyrotechnics Inc was established in the early 1900’s by the great-grandfather of the current owner Mike Cartolano, who emigrated from Italy to the USA to set up the business. Mike has been ‘at the helm’ for over 30 years and he is passionate about pyro and more importantly about safety. He has spearheaded the implementation of strict health and safety guidelines for the American firework industry and continues to strive to ensure that all the displays go off without a hitch.

The company has received many awards over the years and were most recently runners-up during the Jinshen Beach music fireworks festival. Acknowledged as firework providers for the Chicago White Sox they continue to work hard honing their craft. Back in 2010 they were the winners of the highly coveted Hanabi World Cup in Nagasaki, Japan.

Whoever wins, this competition is going to be fierce as all the competitors will bring their A-game in this battle to determine who is ‘the best of the best’.

The Montreal International Fireworks Competition enters its 28^th year and it remains one of, if not THE biggest in Canada annually.

In previous years the organisers have tried a number of different formats from every Saturday beginning mid-June to later August to a twice weekly affair and this year, once again, they will ring the changes.

Started in 1985 the original event was a mixture of classical and pyro-musical displays but as of 1987, the competition has concentrated on pyro-musical exclusively which involves the choreography of the beautiful pyro effects to a musical score.  The first ever competition drew in crowds totalling almost 5.7 million viewers, made up of Greater Montreal residents and international visitors.

This competition, having attracted some the best aficionados of this skill in the World, has now become the ‘must have’ award, giving the winner one of the highest accolades in the World.

This year’s schedule of events is as follows:

DATE        COUNTRY         THEME                           REPRESENTATIVE

22/6/13       AUSTRALIA      magic of the movies         FireworX – Ian Riedel

28/6/13       UK                       it must be love                             Merlin Fireworks

5/7/13         CHINA                born to be wild                 Vulcan Fireworks

12/7/13       SPAIN                 languages of love              Zaragozana Fireworks

20/7/13       USA                     swan lake                         Arthur Rozzi Pyrotechnics

24/7/13       CROATIA           artificial intelligence         Mirnovec Pirotehnika

27/7/13       CANADA           four seasons                     Garden City Display F/works

31/7/13       ITALY                 jukebox memories            Pyroemotions & Pyrodigit

3/8/13        FINALE – NON COMPETING           A tribute to U2

This will be the first time that Croatia will compete in Canada we wish them the best of luck.

Because of the widely differing musical styling, all of this years’ displays will be very different.

As the event is being held at Montreal’s premier entertainment theme park, there is also lots to do during the day if you are planning to make a day of it.

Ticket prices are available online from the following:

http://www.internationaldesfeuxloto-quebec.com/en/billetterie/tarifs.aspx

I am sure that whether we are able to attend or not, there will be video footage and photographs taken which will give us a good look at the displays on offer.

I remember back in the 60s, all the kids of a certain age would compete to get the best looking Guy Fawkes.  This wasn’t anything to do with the competitive spirit, but something much more important.  Back then, from a small pit village in Barnsley, it was all about which street had the biggest bonfire and of course, the best fireworks. Organisation of the event being left to us kids for collecting the wood and funds for our festivities.  Back in an age before the health and safety executive kindly looked after our health for us, and us “kids” were able to buy our own fireworks without any questions asked, our driving force was the money we could get for bonfire night.

The better looking guys would bring in the most money, so it was in our interest, to rake in as much as possible, sometimes walking into the local town some five miles away pushing a wheelbarrow with our effigy proudly resplendent.  The best spots for ‘guying’ would be taken up early and you really didn’t want to get into a turf war over this so far from home.  Betting shops seemed to be an ideal place to “tout for business” hoping for a lucky win on the gee-gees to come our way – or a few pence of it anyway.

In 1960 the average take home wage was around £7 a week and a firework fountain would cost as much as 4d for a good one.  This was a lot of money to a young lad of 8, pocket-money for me and my brother back then being a tanner or 6 pence.  4d (there were 240 pennies in a pound back then) nowadays equates to 36p, 6 pence of which is VAT (which was introduced to the UK in 1973), which means that when you consider that our magic fountains are £1.80 for 5 our fireworks are better value now than they were 40 years ago.

And much safer these days thanks to our good friends the H.S.E.

Disco Stu

Every year, there are any number of fireworks displays and competitions taking part across the UK and around the World.

I have created a list of the most popular for the pyro freaks amongst you so that you can take advantage of as many as possible in 2013.

4th Philippine International PyroMusical Competition 2013 (known as Pyro Olympics)

Dates: 16th February to 23rd March 2013
This is a chance to showcase never seen before pyro extravaganza.

Competing teams are:

Japan Tamaja Kitahara
Finland Oy Pyroman Finland Ltd
Taiwan Yung Feng Fireworks
Spain Brunchu Pyro Experience
UK Jubilee Fireworks Ltd
South Korea Hwarang Fireworks Inc
Italy Ipon Fireworks SRL
Netherlands Royal Fireworks
China Liu Yang New Year Fireworks Manufacturing Co Ltd
Canada Fireworks Spectacular
Phillipines Platinum Fireworks Inc

The UK last won this truly international spectacular in 2007. The 4th Philippine International PyroMusical Competition 2013 will be at the SM Mall of Asia.

Las Fallas 2013 – Valencia, Spain

Dates: 15th to 19th March 2013
Not a competition but a major event which focuses on both fireworks and the fabulous effigies which are burned. This is a spectacular sight which anyone who has had the chance to go along in previous years will attest to.

Malta International Fireworks Festival

Dates: 26th to 30th April 2013
This is a competition which brings together the best of European Fireworks together for a spectacular event which will have all the family oohing and aaahhhing.

This year’s competition features participants from the following countries:

Spain Focs d’Artifici Europla
Malta Mount Carmel Fireworks and Tal-Gilju Fireworks Factory plus others
Italy Lieto Fireworks and Scarpato Fireworks
Germany 123 Feuerwerk
Portugal Pirotechnica Minhota

Da Nang International Fireworks Competition

29th to 30th April 2013
Competing teams are as follows:
Russia Centre of Fireworks – Khan
Vietnam Team Da Nang Fireworks (features the best from the host nation)
Italy Parente A&C SNC
Japan Tamaya Kitahava Fireworks Co Ltd
USA Melrose Pyrotechnics Inc

Festival of Fireworks

Starting Saturday 3rd August and running consecutive Saturday’s for the following 3 weeks at one of the following venue’s:
Capesthorne Hall, Eastnor Castle, Belvoir Castle and Stanford Hall
Competing teams are as follows:
Jubilee Fireworks
Parente Fireworks
Merlin Fireworks
Skyburst Fireworks
MLE Fireworks (event organiser and they put on their own display for the finale)

The event is run in a unique format with three professional teams firing against one another. Then, the audience get to vote by text message on which they believe to be the best whilst the organisers, the fantastic MLE Pyrotechnics put on their own beautiful finale show, whilst the votes are counted.

Cowes Week Fireworks

Friday 9th August 2013

Not a competition but is one of the finest displays in the UK during the summer. A great end to what has been a fabulous week of sailing.

Plymouth Hoe – The British Firework Championships

13th to 14th August 2013
Teams at this event compete this year to be awarded champion of champions as due to extreme weather conditions on the second day of last years event it was not safe to continue.

The teams we are advised are to compete are:
Star Fireworks
Phoenix Fireworks
MLE Pyrotechnics
Selstar Fireworks
Pendragon Fireworks
Jubilee Fireworks

World Fireworks Championships – Blackpool

Four consecutive Fridays from 6 September 2013 to 27th September 2013
Pyro-Musical has become an art-form in itself. These international competitors, from as far a field as Canada and Australia will hope to touch the audience emotionally and present a harmonious mix of music and fireworks to win the title World Fireworks Champions 2013. Last year’s event was badly effected by really poor weather conditions so we hope that this year’s event will make up for this.

British Musical Fireworks Championships – Southport

4th to 6th October 2013
This championship has been running for a number of years but this year, due to commercial development, the venue has moved away from the water. Whilst the reflections from the fireworks on the water were nothing short of spectacular, we are sure that they will all pull out all the stops to make this something spectacular. Seven teams are invited to compete annually and this year the following are going head to head to become British Musical Firework Champions 2013

The competing teams are:
Sirotechnics
Komodo Fireworks
Pyroartistry
Jonathans Fireworks
Sandling Fireworks
Fuse Fireworks
Dragon Fireworks

Over the weekend, Passfire reached its funding goal of $38,000!!!

Reaching our goal on Kickstarter is a huge accomplishment, and we couldn’t have done it without the support of the fireworks community.

THANK YOU!

To celebrate this momentous occasion we made a new update video:

The other big news is that Passfire is currently in the running for Project of the Month on IndieWire!

The polls are open right now, and we have until Friday to make Passfire the winner! Please cast a vote for Passfire here:

Thanks for your support, let’s show everyone that fireworks rule the world!

Now that Passfire has reached its goal, what’s next?

Our work isn’t over yet; we still have 4 days to go before the end of our Kickstarter campaign on March 1st, and since we met our goal early, we are trying to reach a new stretch-goal of $45,000.

Raising additional funds will allow us to make Passfire the masterpiece it deserves to be. We will be able to bring you additional mind-blowing footage from around the world such as the wild fireworks-fiestas of Tultepec, Mexico and the pyrotechnic traditions of the small Mediterranean island of Malta.

If you haven’t done so already, please check out the Kickstarter page, and consider making a pledge.

FFF or Fast, Furious and Funny presenters Colin Furze and Alexandra Legouix head down to track side to determine which is the faster: The Nissan GTR or a consumer rocket.

Both of course were very fast but on this occasion the rocket gained a couple of feet to win the contest but not by as much of a margin as one would expect.

We previously featured a similar dilemma when Richard Hammond of Brainiac and Top Gear decided to check which was the faster between and golf ball, a rocket and a Honda Fireblade (1000cc motorbike).

Although once again the rocket won, the margin was relatively small once again.

I personally can’t wait until someone comes up with a vehicle (road legal) which can beat the rocket.

You may have caught our recent blog post about Passfire, a film dedicated to shoring the work behind fireworks from all around the world.

Two brothers, Jessie and Jeremy Veverka have spent months researching content for their film about fireworks and the whole culture of pyrotechnics from as many differing viewpoints as possible.

Recently, Epic welcomed the opportunity to offer their support to the Veverka Brothers in their exploits in detailing the ever changing face of firework tradition.

To date, their adventure has taken them to China, Japan and more recently to the island of Java, a small island off Indonesia. They visited a small village where the resident’s entire livelihood is wholly dependent on the manufacture of small fireworks in their workshop.

The lads are passionate about pyro and we of course wish them the very best of luck in their endeavours.  If you would like to donate/pledge money in support of this venture, details of how to do this are available via the following link:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/veverkabros/passfire

You can donate anything from $1 to as much as you can afford and each step of the way, you can take advantage of offers of items ranging from photographs of fireworks taken by professional photographers to a full VIP treatment package where you will receive full credits as Associate Producer of the film and be interviewed by the crew for inclusion in the final cut.

Valentines can include anything from romantic to quirky and funny to downright embarrassing but there are any number of things to do to celebrate Valentine’s Day this year.

From planning romantic walks by the sea (with the freezing winds and waves splashing around the other half’s Jimmy Choos along with the storm makeover after she has just spent over 3 hours getting ready for her ‘romantic night’ with you) to an evening of go-karting (not necessarily what she had in mind. . . again!!) these are not necessarily the best around but there are some true no-no’s this Valentine’s day and these are some of the worst:

• Petrol station flowers – ahhhh diesel scented chrysanthemums –NOOOO
• Tricky underwear – in the wrong size
• All you can eat buffet vouchers
• Bargain bin ‘love’ albums
• Tacky cheap costume jewellery
• Cuddly toys (if she is 10 years old – perhaps!!)
• Bars of chocolate – clearly an afterthought
• Cheap perfume
• Football match tickets – really!!
• A new iron or a kettle (only if you want it embedded in the side of your head)

The point is really that with a little bit of thought, you really can make this the most romantic day of the year.

Come on Yorkshire let’s make this the most romantic Valentine’s day possible. It’s not what it costs is the thought that counts but if you are going to do it on a budget try to give it some thought. It may not always be possible to afford to take your loved one out to dinner and whilst daunting, it is possible for ANYONE to create a delicious meal.

The best advice is not to try to go for something which is too taxing as the idea is to make it delicious but not too costly and easy to prepare in advance. There are some fabulous ‘one tray’ or ‘one pot’ recipes available online. A couple of tea-lights, a single rose and a bottle of wine and you are set. Make sure you rent a film, allow her time for a hot bath and then enjoy a meal together.

If you are looking for something a little different for your loved one, why not make it special with a Heart Rocket. At just £14.95 they are relatively inexpensive and the rocket’s heart burst will show your other half just how much you care.

Happy Valentine’s Day

Over the last couple of years, the quality of camera phones has improved year on year and today’s mobile phone camera’s are as good, if not better than most standard digital camera’s which are above a couple of years old.

The improvements in the phone camera’s and the available apps mean that you are able to take some really good quality images using special features never before seen on a phone camera.

In order to take the best pictures of fireworks, there are one or two tips to help you to achieve some stunning pictures and here are a few of our suggestions:

• Choose a location which gives the best vantage point for the fireworks but still maintaining a realistic view of surrounding buildings, structures or expanses of water as they enhance the effects and give depth and scale to images taken.

• Either find a place to ensure you or the camera can be held completely still (like against a tree or vehicle) or invest in a tripod. This will help to avoid blurring and blobs on your images.

• Turn off the flash – not needed as you will have enough light in the image itself.

• Ensure that you have cleared as much memory space as possible. You know the ones: blurred pics of the lads night, the one of your dog smiling (no, he was grimacing) or last week’s Sunday roast – you really don’t want to be running out of memory space just as you are going to take pictures of the finale.

• Get the ‘slow shutter cam app’. This allows control of the shutter speed. The recommended setting for fireworks is 5-30 but try a few variations – you may get some odd results but at least you will be getting some practice in.

• Get the ‘fast camera app’. This will enable the camera on the phone to take up to 800 shots per minute instead of having to wait between shots. You may have 799 rubbish images but it’s that one perfect picture you are aiming for.

• Start off shooting in portrait mode for the single bursts changing to landscape for the finale where the sky will be full of bursts.

Happy Snapping

Throughout China, the people are dashing around making last-minute preparations for the Year of the Snake. The festival in itself is more elaborate than Christmas in the West and for many families throughout this densely populated continent (China’s population is over 1.3 billion) it represents the only time of year that all the generations will have the opportunity to gather together to remember their ancestors, share stories and clear the way for the following 12-months.

The Chinese lunar calendar this year is represented by the Snake and it is therefore no surprise that the theme of many of the gifts, decorations, events and even food and drink (snake wine?!!!) are connected with the snake on some level.

From Bvlgari snake watches at a not inconsiderable £3000.00 a piece to handmade red paper snakes and performances of ‘Madame White Snake’ at the Peking Opera House it’s fairly difficult to escape the theme this year.

There are of course some fascinating events taking place around the Country and one of the most notably is the Harbin Ice and Snow Festival.
This year marks the 29th anniversary of this event which begins early January and continues until early February officially but it can be seen from mid December until often late February providing the very cold weather conditions continue.

Some of the best ice-sculptors in the world gather together in fashioning this beautiful winter wonderland featuring ice palaces which reach into the sky, some of which are several storeys high. There are some which incorporate ice slides and even a working escalator.

The best of the exhibits feature structures including mazes, bars and hotels, 1500 traditionally carved ice lanterns and popular entertainment in the form of ice skating, skiing, ice golf and ice archery to name but a few.

If you have the opportunity to visit this exhibition, let us have some pictures and we will be happy to feature them on our website.

Launch Kontrol by wire has been designed to provide the cheapest, remote option for consumer or Professional firework ignition.

It is based of a 4 cue panel board powered by a standard 9v battery.

It has an arm button, continuity test and 4 individual Fire buttons all illuminated.

Boards can be connected in series. The first board will act as a main panel and arm and check continuity of every board.

Cues can be Fired in any order.

The clips use our original non pyrogen hot wire technology. Copied by many companies and used by tens of thousands for safe remote, firework ignition.

These new improved clips have a solid pivot point so that the two halves cannot be easily separated.

In addition these clips have a plug connector, wiring can be used over and over with only the clip head discarded. As a result the cost per clips will be a fraction of anything else on the market.

The wiring of the board for the display out to the fireworks will be by means of off the shelf, copper CAT 5 or Cat 6 cable.

The rear of the panel is flat and suitable for own branding. This has to be the coolest pyrotechnic promo item anywhere.

Says Mike Knox of Launch Kontrol UK – more photos and videos to come soon on the epic fireworks blog.

Holiday time is always difficult for the true pyro-head as they have to be dragged kicking and screaming from the smell of the flash powder but one Norwegian Cruise Line has stepped up with a fantastic idea.

In 2013 the Norwegian Breakaway, the cruise line’s newest ship will feature fireworks on every cruise. Environmentally friendly fireworks have been developed to reduce the amount of atmospheric pollution produced. Eco-friendly fireworks have a clean burning, nitrogen-based fuel. This means a perchlorate oxidiser is not needed and because there is little smoke, only small amounts of metal salts are needed to produce the brilliantly coloured flames.

The ship will host their version of the hit Broadway show ‘Rock of Ages’ and the fireworks will create the atmosphere for the finale on the 80’s themed party deck and will be fired to hits from 80’s wonder acts like Cherish from Madonna, Whip It by Devo and classics like Final Countdown (Europe) and Purple Rain (Prince). As the fireworks will be carefully choreographed to the beat of the music the guests on board will be treated to an experience which few have ever had the opportunity to enjoy before.

So, if you fancy a 7-day cruise to Bermuda including fireworks the ship will depart New York on Sunday May 12th this year for its maiden voyage. Later in the year, the ship will be taking to the waters of Florida and the Southern Caribbean.

Each year on February 14th countries across the World celebrate St Valentines day. Whilst this is restricted to countries which celebrate Christianity in some way, the trend is growing year on year.

The habit of exchanging gifts with loved ones is a practice which has been celebrated in one form or another since 270AD. Although a Christian festival, historians and religious scholars claim that the Church determined that the feast day of St Valentine should be mid-February at the same time as the pagan festival Lupercalia, a fertility festival dedicated the God of Agriculture, Faunus.

The oldest known valentine’s poem still in existence was penned in 1415 by Charles, Duke of Orleans to his wife whilst he was imprisoned in the Tower of London following the Battle of Agincourt.

In the UK, the popularity of Valentines Day grew in popularity in the 17th Century. By the mid 19th Century it was commonplace for friends and lovers of all classes to exchange love tokens or small written notes and by the start of the 20th Century, following the improvement in print technology, printed cards became increasingly available.

Nowadays, more than 1 Billion Valentines cards are sent annually and women buy around 85% of them.

Here at Epic we introduced the stunning Love Heart Rocket which ejects a beautiful burst in the shape of a huge Love Heart high in the sky. The perfect way to say I love you. It is difficult to find a product which appeals to the 10-year old boy in every man which fulfils their need to ‘make noise and blow stuff up’ but this one fits the bill perfectly and will let your partner know you love them whether you are a man or a woman.

Get along to us, we have a huge selection of fireworks, rockets and sparklers to meet the most discerning pyro lover and the Love Hear Rocket is just £14.95 inc VAT (RRP £29.95) and available now from our firework showroom in Tankersley. We look forward to seeing you soon.

If you think we missed any – please let us know

Not the first time that this has been done but rarely with a display of this size. The effect is nothing short of amazing and it really shows the individual shells and their beautiful colours (particularly on the double burst shells) in spectacular detail.

Check out the video and let us know what you think.

This year sees the start of the Chinese New Year on 10th February 2013. Celebrating the Year of the Snake.

Beijing

Beijing being the capital of China is the center of the celebrations for the City and events include Carnivals, operatic performances, acrobats and traditional tea culture displays. Also, there will be local crafts, dancing and local and international cuisine.

Ditan Park festival houses the Temple of Earth which is a large square two storey building with a large moat which is traditionally decorated with Dragons (ying) and Phoenix (yang) and surrounded by substantial trees thought to be upwards of 300 years old. This is a fantastic place to spend the day with your family enjoying some of the rich and varied entertainment on offer.

At midnight the skies over Beijing will be lit up with stunning pyro to welcome in the New Lunar year and ward off those evil spirits.

Source: scarboroughtowncentre.com via BEST WESTERN PLUS on Pinterest

Hong Kong

The most popular and arguably the largest event celebrating the Spring Festival is the Cathay Pacific Chinese New Year Night Parade, which will be held on 10th February kicking off 15-days of celebrations.

Day one starts with this years annual parade ‘Theme’ is ‘World City – World Party’ which will include illuminated, highly decorated floats accompanied by spectacular international performances during this carnival atmosphere including a Shaolin Kung Fu demonstration and Nordic stilt walkers (mmmm – a little random!!).

The second day will see a spectacular Lunar New Year fireworks display. Watched by more than ½ a million spectators and featuring no fewer than 40,000 fireworks including shells, firecrackers and mines, this 23 minute display is going to be pretty special.

Singapore

Singaporeans welcome in the Year of the Snake with the annual Chingay Parade which features around 2000 performers from a variety of clubs and schools bedecked in highly coloured costumes giving the parade its growing reputation as Asia’s answer to Mardi Gras.

The parade theme is ‘Fire in Snow’ celebrating the true strength of the human spirit when faced with adversity and taking on the challenges head on.

The main event on 22nd and 23rd of February promises a truly spectacular welcome for the New Year. Lion dancers, firecrackers, fire eaters and dance performances brings the people together with their families and loved ones to look forward to a prosperous New Year.

One of the most popular events is held on the Marina Bay floating platform where the area comes alive once again with street performances, music, shopping and gaming, lanterns and of course a spectacular fireworks display.

San Francisco

I know, I did a double take when I learnt that San Francisco was one of the top places in the WORLD to celebrate the Chinese New Year too. Furthermore, San Francisco is recognised as holding the largest Asian celebration on any other continent.

Following on from the Gold Rush of the mid 1800’s there was a massive influx of Chinese immigrants hoping to make their fortune bringing along with them the Chinese New Year traditions to the USA and amalgamated the traditional parade with their more customary celebrations to establish in 1860 one of the largest non-Asian celebrations in the World and it continues to this day.

They hold a Miss Chinatown Pageant to choose a representative for this beautiful City. The event also delivers everyone attending the chance to involve themselves in the making of kites and lanterns, learn about Chinese symbolism and calligraphy and some nifty dance moves too.

The main feature, the parade will end with a 200m+ long Golden Dragon which takes over 100 men and women from local Martial Arts group ‘White Crane’ to carry and move around the gathered crowds. Accompanied by marching bands, this is a spectacular event offering you the chance to have a taste of the real China.

Source: scarboroughtowncentre.com via Carol on Pinterest

 

London

Europe’s largest and arguably the best celebrations take place in London, naturally!

Every year, the festivities grow as thousands of Londoners and visitors descend on the Capital to celebrate the Chinese New Year. The party kicks off with a spectacular New Year’s parade which makes its way through the city until it reaches Trafalgar Square where the President of Chinatown will carry out the ‘Dotting of the Eye’ ceremony which will bring the dragons and lions to life.

At 5:55 on 10/02/2013 a stunning fireworks display will mark the end of the first day of the Chinese Spring Festival celebrations.

If you plan to celebrate the Chinese New Year of the Snake or indeed would like to have a few fireworks to help your family to ward off the evil spirits, we are open 7-days a week and have everything from small fountains to full display packs and we would be delighted to see you. Remember, we hold the largest number of 1.3g barrages in the UK and they range from £3.95 to £89.95.
See you soon and in the meantime ‘Gung Hay Fat Choy ‘ which means “Best wishes and Congratulations and we wish you all a prosperous and good year.

Two award-winning filmmakers are ready to dig in to the international passion for fireworks with their forthcoming film “Passfire”.

Documenting fireworks, the people who make them and the cultures behind them across the globe, this production is sure to explode on the big screen.

Brothers Jesse and Jeremy Veverka have spent more than six months planning their latest production, which has garnered support from the National Fireworks Association based in the USA. The film aims to document the rich, yet rapidly changing fireworks traditions that exist around the world and make them accessible to both fireworks enthusiasts as well as the broader public.

“Ever since I was a boy, I would always look forward to fireworks shows on the 4th of July — a fascination I still haven’t outgrown,” said director of photography Jeremy Veverka, 31. “I realized that there are many other adults who haven’t outgrown it either. People have based their entire livelihoods on fireworks, not for the money but for the love of making things go boom.”

The brothers were inspired to pursue a long-term film project on the topic after Jesse, 34, wrote an article for CNN Travel entitled “Liuyang: Where the World’s Fireworks Are Born”. His profile of Liuyang, China - the world’s de facto capital of fireworks – sparked interest from Harry Gilliam, president of Skylighter Fireworks, who signed on as an executive producer for “Passfire.”

“Fireworks have a powerful, almost magical attraction to people,” Gilliam said. “I’m tickled pink that such an accomplished, professional film company is producing a documentary on how and why fireworks affect people so universally. I have been particularly impressed with the Veverka Brothers’ insights and enthusiasm for the link between fireworks and different cultures all over the world, and I am honored to be able to help bring this production into being.”

The Veverka Brothers aim to record the biggest blasts, along with traditional manufacturing methods and cultural affairs with fireworks — a feat which will take the duo around the world. “Passfire” takes an exclusive look at the 36-inch san-jaku shell in Japan. This legendary 36-inch shell, which takes six months to craft, weighs about 400 pounds and costs almost as much as a new car. Also in Japan, “Passfire” shows how a master shellmaker assembles a 12-inch shell, known as an “ichi-shaku.” Stars (round balls) are sandwiched between layers of bursting charge to create a beautiful burst-within-a-burst affect that is nearly perfectly symmetrical. Watching them being made is almost as beautiful as watching them being used. The filmmakers also discovered that Shinto priests are often on hand at Japanese factories to thank the gods for ensuring the safety of workers. This is just one aspect of culture connected to fireworks that “Passfire” aims to explore.

Highlights of the production also include tours of the world’s largest fireworks factories in China, scenes of jumbo-size Thai Girandolas helicoptoring into the sky, celebrations at a fireworks festival in Tultepec, Mexico, honoring the patron saint of pyrotechnics, San Juan de Dios, and a glimpse of Malta, where Catholic parishes compete with one another for the best fireworks shows.

“There have been some interesting stories about the way fireworks are made, their history, or how shows are put together, but there has never been a film of this scale that looks at the way people show their love for fireworks around the globe,” says director Jesse Veverka, adding that many of the scenes offer glimpses of fireworks that have never been seen by the broader public before.

Despite the global perspective, Jesse and Jeremy realize that a part of fireworks culture lies in their own backyard — the USA. They are documenting the work of Tom Dimock, a licensed pyrotechnician in Ellis Hollow, New York. Dimock co-organizes a special fireworks show every Labor Day, and has won several awards from the Pyrotechnics Guild International. They’ll also be checking out fireworks around American Independence Day (4th July), where the sky of the entire nation lights up with brightly coloured blasts and the largest shows of the year.

“Passfire” is a big project with a budget of around a quarter of a million dollars. The Veverka Brothers have already raised seed money with the help of the National Fireworks Association, Skylighter Fireworks, and independent producers. The filmmakers will launch a Kickstarter campaign to crowd-fund the next phase of the budget on January 28, 2013, in order to continue filming throughout the spring. This production requires support from fireworks fans so the filmmakers can continue production.

This is the largest project that the Veverka Brothers have taken on in their careers so far. Previously, they created the feature-length documentary “China: Rebirth of an Empire,” which screened at 24 film festivals internationally and took home six awards, including Best Documentary. Their documentary short “Malana: Globalization of a Himalayan Village” and narrative short “Bus to Somewhere” continue to screen at festivals worldwide.

The filmmakers are available for immediate interviews and can be reached at info@veverkabros.com or 607-216-4304.
More information can be found at www.passfiremovie.com.
Follow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/passfire
Follow us on Twitter: @veverkabros

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Capping off a fantastic year for the City of London, this year’s New Years Eve event was destined to be nothing less than spectacular – and they didn’t disappoint.

Billed as one of the best in the World, the UK treated the revellers to a stunning display of fireworks.

The firers were once again Kimbolton Fireworks who were responsible for the brilliant displays at the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympic Games 2012

The breaks on some of the shells were staggering and held the air beautifully with some astounding double breaks, the display was really something to see. Rockets flared from the London Eye and the capital’s riverside landmarks including barrages on the Thames were lit up in a display which lasted 11 minutes and featured 12,500 fireworks.

Mayor of London Boris Johnson said “Watched by hundreds of thousands in the capital and millions around the globe, London has proved, yet again, that it can pull off spectacular world-class events in style.”

Spectators on hand at the event were thrilled saying that the display superseded their expectations saying that it was the perfect ending to a magnificent year in London.

Fireworks in Taiwan: Taipei 101 New Year Fireworks 2013 

Some of you may be aware that we have just returned from China where we were sourcing new products for the 2013 season.

Over the years as you can imagine we have built up close personal relationships with some of the agents and factory personnel over the years to such a degree that a number of them came over to the UK in August to join in the family wedding celebrations.

It is always a pleasure to see them again and this time, having arrived a couple of days into the New Year we were surprised to learn that our friend and colleague had actually visited Taiwan to see the fireworks from Tai Pei 101 which was the World’s tallest building from its erection in 2004 until January 2010 when the Burj Khalifa was opened in Dubai.

Having friends in the industry does pay dividends when John, partner of one of our agents was given the opportunity to see first hand the work in progress. Launching from a 509 meter high building was never going to be an easy task but innovations in the creation of a computer ‘mock up’ of the display showed how the anticipated display would be in reality. Having been fortunate enough to see both the computer generated imagery and the real thing as filmed by John we have to say that the firers are true artists. The colours were truly spectacular looking at times like a giant Christmas Tree with the most graceful falling stars.

Groupe F really should be commended for their work as they also did the display for the Burg Khalifa in Dubai too.

A total of 22,0000 fireworks formed the display and as previously outlined, the Tai Pei 101 is very environmentally friendly and as a result of the carbon emissions being sent skywards, they will also turn off lighting on the building for 6-days following the event to save the equivalent of 7600kw of electricity .

Check out the video:

The Best New Year’s Eve Firework Displays From Around The World

What impact will the UK’s decision to stay in Europe have on the firework industry?

It is a well acknowledged fact that there are very mixed views on whether or not to stay in Europe, which will make for interesting reading when it comes time for the people in the UK make their feelings known in the ballot box.

The firework industry is on the cusp of a number of changes which have to be implemented to maintain our standing in Europe in the hopes of opening up the Global exportation of pyro overseas. It is however difficult for a member of the firework industry to really see the progress which is currently being made as we are already faced with uncertainty.

The introduction of the CE marking is going to have a massive impact on the industry which is hanging on for grim death as it is. The fascinating fact to my untrained eye is that whilst we acknowledge that having a generic marking system may make it easier for the rest of Europe it is going to have a huge impact on the economy of the UK. The testing of products for classification for example is likely to bring even more issues to the fore, particularly as the line between 1.4g and 1.3g appears to be so blurred. The testing used overseas is clearly sub-standard compared to the BS marking we all know and love.

In the UK the responsibility for testing for CE marking falls to the Health and Safety Executive in Derby. However, they then say that as they are dedicated pyro for fireworks only on their site, the question remains then, who is going to set the standard for the UK as a member state in relation to the classification of pyro?

By 2017 all products sold in the UK must be CE marked and whilst this may be a great idea, the testing has proven thus far to be a bit of a bone of contention. A year ago, the Dutch firework industry had their top bods in the equivalent of our HSE do the recommended testing. The result was that 75% of every product which went through testing to this ‘standard’ failed to reach requirement. The fireworks were frozen, baked and dropped from considerable heights during testing which with all due respect would imply that unless every single firework is testing to military ‘standard’, it is unlikely to receive the requisite pass.

The initial reaction is that as the UK has the best safety record in relation to fireworks on the market in the EU why then do we have to re-address this matter to comply with the EU to whom we will not be trading with?

Will the introduction of this legislation have the desired effect of regulating the number of non-compliant items on the market? Unlikely I would have thought as since the late 16th century there has been a fascination with pyro and despite the rigorous testing of items, the only items recalled last year were both from a single German manufacturer who curiously enough are the standard against which all others across Europe will be tested!!

The crux of the matter is, given that we are still no further forward in ensuring that we have a firework sales industry which we remain proud of with an Internationally recognised safety standard in place which with all due respect blows European standard out of the water.

I for one would like to see the UK out of Europe as whilst they share money with the UK for industrial development, we are still the main contributor. The fact is that in 2008 and independent commission investigated the monies contributed and whilst on paper the net cost was stated as being £10.8 billion the reality was actually nearer to £65 billion thanks to the additional costs of EU compliance and we have only just started so where does this end? With Europe still sticking with the idyll that this is actually of benefit, Britain continues to struggle how long will we continue in Europe?

Article by JuJu

The Chinese New Year, also referred to as ‘Spring Festival’ takes place within the first couple of months of the Gregorian calendar and is meant to signify the end of the Winter and the welcoming of the Spring.

After all the Christmas decorations have been taken down, the house is cleaned thoroughly in preparation for the Chinese New Year. Once cleaned, the house is decorated with brightly coloured lanterns, cherry blossoms, orange trees and lots and lots of red all around. In the run up to the Chinese New Year, classic Spring Festival music is played all around in public places. The most popular is the sound of traditional bowed stringed instruments like the Erhu and Gaohu.

The most important facet of the Chinese New Year celebrations for families across China is the reunion dinner held on New Years Eve. All the family from children to grand-parents, aunts and uncles, nephews and nieces traditionally all gather together at either the parent’s house or the eldest brother’s home. Nowadays, they sometime gather in a top class restaurant.

A typically very lavish affair, dinner will include a multitude of courses which include Chicken, Pork and Fish.

In Malaysia, the dinner will begin with a traditional raw fish salad which everyone will toss with chopsticks and it is said that the higher the salad goes, the more fortunes will grow in the coming year.

The giving of gifts is extremely important and most commonly will include boxes of oranges or a live orange tree. If you are a child, elderly relative or a single adult, you will expect to receive ANG POH. These are the little red envelopes featured in a certain bank’s advertising campaign which will contain a crisp new bank-note. A child of a large family with lots of aunties and uncles could potentially receive a great deal of money from their little red envelopes.

The Chinese New Year festivities continue for 15 days and culminate in Chap Goh Mei (meaning 15th night) and again will be celebrated with a family meal and music in a similar vein to the reunion dinner on Chinese New Year.

Legend has it that the Chinese New Year celebrations started with a fight against mythical beast the Nian who was said to come out at New Year to eat the livestock, crops and even un-suspecting villagers. However, Nian came across a child wearing red and fled into the night. The villagers determined that Nian must be afraid of the colour red and thereafter, as New Year approached the villagers would hang red lanterns and red scrolls and light firecrackers to drive Nian out of town.

During the run up to the holiday, all the open air markets across China are packed with home-makers stocking up on gifts, material, flowers, toys and of course fireworks.

China is of course synonymous with fireworks so it is no surprise that the celebrations will include pyro of every kind. Of course they will be bright, loud and often red in colour to continue the tradition of ensuring that Nian does not return. Firecrackers have been banned in some more built up areas for safety reason at one time or another but some have since relaxed the ban in more rural areas.

Flowers, which play an integral part in the Chinese New Year celebrations also have special meaning:

Plum blossom – lucky
Kumquat and Narcissus – prosperity
Sunflower – a good year
Aubergine blossom – heals sickness
Chom Mon Plant – tranquillity.

2013 is the Year of the Snake.

For now, gěi nǐ bài nián 给你拜年。 which means, Happy New Year to you.

The documentary takes us behind the scenes of the Guinness World Record breaking Kuwait fireworks display – the BIGGEST fireworks show ever.

After reporting that the fireworks celebrations ringing in the New Year were once again likely to be quashed due to a lack of funding, we are delighted to learn that a kindly benefactor has stepped in to fund the Town Hall fireworks so New Year will start with a bang after all.

Fairground owner, Gary Gore from Carousel Funfairs has been running his business for more than 30 years and his family run events are a familiar fixture throughout Manchester and the North West of England.

Following an appear in the Manchester Evening News, Mr Gore decided to step in.  Mr Gore said “we stepped in after spotting the article in the M.E.N. because we are a Manchester based company that has operated in local Parks for more than 30 years.  We feel the communities have always been good to us so it would be good to do something with them and make a great celebration”.

Manchester, as we reported previously, staged a sponsored fireworks show three years in a row from 2008-2010 inclusive.  But, last year, the plug was pulled when no businesses offered their help.

We did a piece a few weeks ago which highlighted that Manchester Council had initially said in January this year that following the ‘damp squib’ description of the celebrations for New Year 2011/12 that they would step in to ensure that the display went ahead which  Councillor Pat Karney then went back on when once again it was thrown open to the local businesses to support the New Year’s Eve event despite using a massive amount on money on an Alicia Keys concert which, with all due respect, didn’t really do much for the majority of the locals.

It is fascinating however  that the Manchester Evening News are taking the praise for something that although they reported on the issue, they made no attempt to contribute to the event, much to the chagrin of the locals.

Manchester is hailed as the party capital of the North and there are certainly lots of things to do in this fascinating City on New Years Eve.  From small, intimate gatherings in cool bars and restaurants, to massive clubs and warehouse raves and everything in between so there is bound to be something to suit everyone.

Please remember that the majority of events are ticketed so make sure that you have yours before you venture into the city to avoid disappointment.

If you would like to see the fireworks, Carousel Funfairs New Year Street Fair event is running Sat 27th December to Sunday 6th January in Manchester City Centre and the fireworks are planned for Midnight.  Once again, I am sure that the people of Manchester are delighted and thankful to Mr Gore for stepping up – just a shame no-one else thought to do so and I for one hope that they have a fabulous time at this free event.

As detailed in the previous Epic blog, this year’s New Year celebrations in London are very much the responsibility of Mr David Zolkwer, Director of public events for Jack Morton Worldwide.

Mr Zolkwer has a massive responsibility on his shoulders but this is not unusual for him as he has been the man behind the teams for such prestigious events as the Hong Kong handover, the opening and closing of the Commonwealth Games in Manchester 2002, the Olympic games opening ceremonies for Athens 2004 and Melbourne 2000 and he was a key figure and fulfilled a consultancy role to the organising committee for the Beijing Olympics in 2008.  Other events include the Confederation Cup in South Africa in 2009 and the FIFA World Cup in 2010 in South Africa.

Future events that he will hold overall creative responsibility for will be the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow with a not inconsiderable budget of £14 million to put the wow factor into the opening and closing ceremonies.

This year’s New Years Eve fireworks will take place by the London Eye on 31^st December and the show is set to get under way from 10pm.  The event will feature entertainment from world class DJ’s right through the night.  The fireworks will start at Midnight and will be choreographed to a specially commissioned sound track.

The fireworks will once again be fired by the Kimbolton Fireworks professional team who were responsible for the staggeringly beautiful sky art for the opening and closing ceremonies.

If you are looking for something to celebrate the New Year, come over to see us in Tankersley.  Open every day except Christmas, Boxing and New Years day, we have something to suit every pocket and can guarantee that you will be delighted with the effects of any one of our magnificent barrages.

Wherever you are this year, whether you are with friends and loved ones or on the town with your pals, have a great New Year’s Eve and keep safe and well.

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM ALL AT EPIC FIREWORKS

Never has ‘For Auld Lang Syne’ being more appropriate to the Nation’s capital than this year.  Following on from a year where we had the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and our wonderful Queen celebrated an astonishing 60 years on the Throne there has never been more focus on our small nation than this year.

We started the year in the sure and certain knowledge that this was not going to be a quiet and reserved one as we all completed the final preparations for what is likely to be one of the finest Year’s in our nation’s rich history.

Torch Relay

Who could fail to be touched by the efforts of some of the torch bearers as every English Country and every local authority in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland got to see the Olympic Torch.  Special dispensation was given to add Ireland’s Capital city Dublin to the schedule and this was the only Country outside of the UK to be included in this magical event.

As some of you may know, the MD and his family and a number of the employees hail from Bradford, Leeds and Bingley.  The Torch left Bradford on 24^th June where more than 4000 people lined the route as it made its way through Keighley and them moving onto Leeds where it remained over-night.  The following morning the torch set off to Barnsley where a massive 20,000 people lined the route as it continued over to Sheffield to rest over-night in the Don Valley Stadium before setting off to the coast at Cleethorpes.

Jubilee Weekend

Here at Epic, we had absolutely no idea just how revered her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was until we started to get order after order for fireworks to join in the celebration of her Diamond Jubilee weekend.  We even had to create a new Jubilee pack especially for the occasion for the hundreds of customer who were putting on a show for their community with food fireworks and fun being at the top of the list.

The Jubilee Weekend was brilliant on the Saturday if a little wet and chilly on the Saturday but the crowds gathered joining in the celebrations were not to be put off by the changing weather in the UK as this is something we have all come to know only too well.

We did manage to get a couple of hours off to join in with the celebrations with our families and friends and enjoyed a good few fireworks in recognition of Her Majesty’s 60-years on the British Throne.

Olympic Games

Let the games commence …. After several years in the planning, the eyes of the World were on London for the opening ceremony.  Whilst it certainly was a very British affair, with a couple of the reference being lost on the other countries, it was nothing short of spectacular, depicting the growth of the country following the War, the austerity, the growth of industry and of course, the music of the youth of yesteryear and that of today.

Of course, being fireworks mad, our main focus was on the pyro.  Kimbolton Fireworks made us all proud to be British with a spectacular display which lit up the skies over London to rapturous applause.

Team GB did us all proud with the haul of medals totalling 65 including 29 Gold, 17 Silver and 19 Bronze

Again, we had a number of customers who had orders in to support their local sporting hero’s including Sheffield’s own, Jess Ennis, the brilliant Brownlee brothers from Dewsbury, rower Ed Clancy from Barnsley and boxer Nicola Adams from Leeds.

Bonfire Night

Of course, one of the biggest events in the firework industry calendar in the UK is Bonfire Night.  Each year, increasing numbers of customers are coming along to see us in an attempt to save money putting on one of the big displays that they used to pay to pro firing companies they pay less than half of this cost and do it themselves.

We awaited the delivery from China’s arrival with bated breath and when the first containers arrive, it is always a time of great excitement – a bit like unpacking a HUGE food hamper – and once they are all safely housed either over here in Barnsley or over in our specialist underground storage containers in Lincoln, we are ready to go.

Serving several thousand customers with everything from a pack of sparklers to a £10,000 fireworks display, we made tens of hundreds of cups of tea, coffee and gave several hundred bottles of juice, water and other soft drinks to the throngs ensuring that in keeping with Jimmy’s Customer Care ethos, everyone leaves with a smile on their face.  Before we knew it, Bonfire Night was here and the skies over Barnsley and Sheffield were alight with explosions as we sat back and took stock of the good, the bad and the downright obscure.

As 2013 is just around the corner, our thoughts turn to our buying trip as we will be visiting China early in the year to check out the new products, place our orders for some of our old favourites and ensure that this year we bring in enough to meet everyone’s requirements.

And now that we approach the end of the 2012 season, we are offering our gratitude to customers who come along to the store by rewarding anyone spending £150.00 or more with either a DVD player or 5 majestic Sky Lanterns as a thank you.

To all our friends who have helped out during the season and all our customers we raise a glass in thanks and wish you everything you hope for from 2013.

If you need any fireworks to help you bring in the New Year in style, we will remain open every-day except Christmas and Boxing day and whilst our stock is a little depleted in some items, due to the HUGE range, we have alternatives for every product.

THANK YOU AND SEE YOU AGAIN SOON.

The documentary is called ‘Passfire’ and it talks about fireworks and the people that make them…..

And a short video below by the Veverka Bros featuring one of Changsha’s weekly fireworks display.

Fireworks will be lighting up the skies all over the globe this New Year’s Eve and we are featuring as many as possible to see how other countries celebrate.

This year, Taipei in Taiwan will once again be featuring a fireworks display to rival anywhere else in the World and will once again do so from the highest building available, Taipei 101.

Taipei 101 was originally called the World Financial Centre and from 2004 – 2010 was officially the tallest building in the World until the opening of the Burj Khalifa in 2010 and was heralded in 2011 as the highest green building in the World.

Taipei 101 comprises 101 floors above ground level and a further 5 below and was designed to withstand typhoons and earthquakes.

This year’s display according to organisers will be quite different from the past events as instead of being full on noise and explosions, this year it will be ‘graceful’.

There will be 22,000 fireworks let off in a little over 3-minutes to a re-mastered version of ‘The Firebird’ by Stravinsky keeping with the theme of the event which is ‘Swing for the Future’.

Groupe F will be responsible for the display this year along with being given the opportunity to also fire the display at the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.  The team will be including the use of Wi-Fi and GPS systems for the first time in Taipei as the pyro is set to be detonated from angles never done before.

Being a green building, they remain mindful of the fact that they will be sending 4500kg of carbon emissions up into the night skies and plan to turn off many of the lights in their building for 6-days which will save 7600kw of electricity.

I am certain that whatever steps are taken, the fireworks display will prove to be spectacular once again this year.

If you are planning to have fireworks for New Year, why not come along to our bespoke showroom in Tankersley to pick out a couple of fantastic pieces to bring in your New Year in EPIC style.

A 30 minute long documentary by Imogen Ogilvie and Lorna Stewart.

The documentary looks at the sad decline of the British fireworks manufacturing in the UK, the advancemenst of the Far East and talks to firework owners, firework enthusiasts, display team operators through the lens of the firework industry.

You can watch another firework documentary here about the famous fireworks family called Howard & Sons Pyrotechnics from Australia.

Fireworks used in video were 2 x thunderous finale two……..(fired in pairs) atomic tornado, angels and demons, really cheap finale costing about 300 quid” !

The Sheffield fireworks Toxicology-pathology party 2012 fireworks finale, Morley, Talbot & co.

To celebrate the first anniversary of the Game “Star Wars: the old republic” Game developers Bioware are giving away 25 stacks of fireworks to anyone who signs up for a “Star Wars: The Old

The game launched on the 20^th of December 2011 with development costs of around $200 million, an ambitious project which has paid off.

In the first 3 days of availability over one million users signed up and paid to play the game online, now almost a year later a free play version is available, allowing users to play up to level 20 before needing to pay in advance.

The game itself takes place time-wise 300 years after the Knights of the old republic and 3500 years before the Star Wars Films took place.

Players join the game as members of either the Sith empire or the Galactic republic with their very own space ship and a choice of species but can quickly progress to better ships, weapons, as they earn experience points.

The game is huge with hundreds of worlds to discover, light sabres, pistols etc. thousands of characters to interact with and feels as though you are actually in a film with highly cinematic environments and real feel physics as you fly your space craft across the galaxy in search of adventure, fame and fortune.

Also further to the offer Bioware are asking users to screen capture their adventures, the best two shots will have pride of place on their Facebook page and Website.

To take part screen capture your best shots and e-mail them to celebrate_EN@swtor.com before January 2nd 2013

For those past the gaming stage and want their very own out of this world experience, we have hundreds of fireworks available all year round, from fireworks the size of a Coke can to some the size of a small suitcase we have something for everyone to celebrate in style, all fireworks are half price and we have the biggest range in the UK.

All products can be delivery to your door free of charge, see website for details.

This year has been something special for all the people of the UK and of course it is equally important to be sure to end it in the same way.

The New Years Eve fireworks this year are set to be nothing short of a DAZZLING SPECTACULAR as we wave goodbye to a magnificent year for the UK. The skies over London will be blazing with light and colour again this New Year’s eve as the focus of the World will once again be on London and the majority of the fireworks display will be fired from the London Eye.

Mayor of London, Boris Johnson said in a recent statement ‘Our New Year Event will cap off a triumphant year for London, as we welcomed the world to share our magnificent celebrations for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the glorious success of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.  London was at its best from thrilling sporting action to the breathtaking cultural celebrations. It has been an unforgettable year and I am immensely proud of the contributions made by our ambassadors to that success. As we go into 2013 with a spectacular fireworks display I hope we can build on that energy and enthusiasm to make ours the best big City in the World’.

View New Year’s Eve Fireworks in a larger map

The advice is clear to revellers – PLAN AHEAD. There will be massive crowds descending on London for the event and you need to be sure to get into your viewing spot before 9pm as most areas will be full beforehand. I would also add that as each area fills up, access will be denied and most pubs and clubs in the vicinity will be ticketed so make sure you book in advance if you do plan to go along to eat or drink in the capital. You should also remember that there will be a very long wait until the bells of Big Ben strike 12 so bear in mind that it is predicted that temperatures will be very low and there is the possibility of rain and snow so wrap up warm.

Where to watch the fireworks in LONDON – New Years

In regards to getting to this momentous event, public transport is available in the most part but again, we would recommend that you check in advance. Most trams, selected trains and buses will run all through the night but some areas, access is restricted so some bus routes will not be operating at all. The best news is that there will be FREE London travel available as sponsored by Diageo GB on the tube, train, bus and DLR (docklands light railway). Further information can be found here.

If you are travelling in London between 24^th December and 1^st January your journey may be affected. We would recommend that you check live traffic news on the local radiostation or via the Transport For London website www.tfl.gov.uk and click on getting around or live travel news for more details before your journey. If you are travelling into the capital via the rail network, visit the National Rails Christmas and New Year Travel summary. Some cycle hire docking stations will not operate – please check first and finally, when using Taxi’s, please keep safe and only use licensed black cabs as unlicensed cabs are illegal and potentially dangerous.

Of course, London is not just about New Year as many will be celebrating Christmas in UK’s capital beforehand and there are any number of things to do including the following:

• Trafalgar Square Carols – every night between 5:00pm and 9:00pm every night until 23 December.
• Mayors Carol Service – 17^th December 2012 – 6:30pm st Southwark Cathedral.  The Carol Concert will include guest choirs, carols with the congregation and a variety of biblical and secular readings and poetry.  This is an event which is for all faiths to join together as a community and celebrate along with Christians from across the World.
• New Years Day Parade – 1^st January 2012 in the City Centre and this will include a lively and colourful parade incorporating participants from across the World

There are of course a number of Christmas Markets for you to enjoy around the City and here are some of the biggest and best:

• Real Food Christmas Market – Southbank Centre Square  – 80 traditionally decorated wooden chalets selling a wide range of unique and bespoke hand-crafted gifts for unusual presents and traditional food and drinks
• Winter Wonderland – Hyde Park – Ice-skating, big top shows and a HUGE Christmas Market
• London Caribbean Xmas Fayre -  Kensington Town Hall – enjoy the laughter and warmth of the Caribbean, the steel drums will bring in the spirit of Christmas.  There will be handcrafted jewellery, gift baskets, delicious preserves, wines, candles and toiletries made and sourced from across the UK
• More London Christmas Market – The Scoop -  gift stalls, craftworks, indulgent treats, hot food stalls and designers with 20 stalls selling hand-made designer gifts
• Brent Cross Winter Wonderland -  Brent Cross – including rides, attractions, pantomime, ferris wheels and a carousel
• The Night Market – Camden – fashion, vintage pieces, accessories, jewellery, arts and crafts and global street stalls

Wherever you are in the World, keep safe and warm, enjoy the fireworks and have a great Christmas and New Year from all at Epic Fireworks.

Telstra, the Australian mobile phone network provider has created an app which it hopes over a million party goers will download and use at the show.  The network will send signals through cell tower nodes over the 3g network to the phones with the app installed. The software application is designed to flash colours and patterns of light synchronised to the fireworks.

As I’m sure most of us have seen on “24” or Spook’s style TV programs, it is possible to track exactly where a phone is by looking at the signal being reflected back to the towers via a system known as the home locate relay, and by cross referencing the signal strength picked up on different cell sites, the computer works out where the phone is to within a metre.  The network will then send corresponding patterns and colours to different areas of the crowd.

There will be four times during the festivities when the crowds will be asked to hold up their phones to the night sky to add to the show.  If just a fraction of the crowd participates, it should look really cool.

Although an ambitious project by anyone’s standards it is not the first time that synchronised lights have been used to such effect.  Last year the band Coldplay, as part of their Mylo Xyloto tour, handed out wrist bands to everyone in the crowd and lighting engineers staged a show within the adoring masses by activating the lights in sequence.

As you can see from the video the effect was stunning:

With over a million people expected to take part in Australia’s New Year Celebration it will be one to remember, and if all goes to plan I for one don’t think this will be the last time we see technology of this kind being used in this way.

Disco Stu.

We will be open every day at 9:00am apart from Christmas and Boxing Day’s and then right through until New Years Eve when we close at 5:00pm, reopening on 2nd January 2013. The showroom will be open to collect whatever items you may require until 5:00pm on Christmas Eve (closed Christmas day and Boxing Day) and reopen on 27th December until 5:00pm on 31st December.

All customers who spend over £150.00 in the showroom will receive a free gift of either 5 HUGE sky lanterns or a DVD player. The Sky Lanterns are truly beautiful and a fitting end to the year as they majestically drift off into the beyond with messages of love attached.

If you are ordering fireworks for delivery, please remember that whilst we will be delivering all the way through to New Year’s Eve, the earlier you get your order in the better just in case there is a break in the weather.

All that remains is to wish you all a very Merry Christmas from all the staff and management at Epic fireworks and we hope to see you again soon.

All participants in the 2013 Mechanical Ground Fireworks festival in Floriana, Malta locally known as “Nar ta’ l-Art”, have been told that the firework flames MUST be contained to avoid any further accidents.

Ground fireworks are a unique Maltese pyrotechnic tradition, and since the festival will be held on the eve of Floriana’s Parish Feast, those who attend the festival will also get a taste of the lavish local festivities which are a hallmark of Maltese Fiestas. The Festival will be held in the largest square in Malta.

In 2009, a young man was injured when a flame from a misfired Catherine wheel hit him in the face.  However, event organisers have assured the public that every safety measure will be taken to ensure crowd safety by keeping them at a safe distance.

The new regulations state that the displays must be built in a way that ensures that flares from fireworks will not be emitted outwards.

The 2013 Festival, being held in April will feature competing teams from around the World and will last around an hour and a half.  Each team will present 2 displays in the hope of becoming Mechanical Champions.

There will also be a unique situation when 25% of the score will be allotted by representatives of the competing teams themselves and the remainder of the score will be established by the panel of experts from around the World.

I am sure that if there is sufficient distance between the action and the crowd that there will be little chance of injury being sustained again and this remains a free event which can be enjoyed by all the family.

The categories for the competition include the best use of gears/chains and least used, originality, best mechanism and best products.

I think i need to talk to Jimmy (managing director) and ask him if we can do this with the epic fireworks logo…..i think i know what he’s gonna say tho……..$*u*@%£$***=8^&w……P45……..

David DeSafey from Pyro-Talk talks exclusively to the worlds biggest fireworks blog.

David is based in the USA and caught the ‘firework bug’ at a very early age. David runs a successful youtube channel called displayfireworks1 and has nearly 12k ‘firework-mad’ subscribers and also runs an awesome website called Pyro-Talk – check it out.

Many thanks to David for taking the time to make the video and if you ever come to the UK, you are more than welcome to stay over at our place and we’ll take you the epic fireworks bunker (video below) and blast off a load of pyro

All the best for 2013 David, the epic fireworks gang

In most communities across Africa, the Hotels and Bars will be full of party goers welcoming in the New Year.  Each Country on this beautiful continent enjoys a public holiday on January 1^st, whether they celebrate or not.

In Ethiopia for example, they celebrated a massive New Year Party in September 2007 to welcome in the new Millennium.  Ethiopians follow an ancient Coptic Calendar which runs around 7 ½ years behind the Gregorian Calendar because the Orthodox Church in Ethiopia and the Roman Catholic church could not agree on the date of the ‘creation of the World’ so they started their respective Calendars from different points many hundreds of years ago.

South Africa is one of the best places to celebrate the New Year, particularly in Cape Town where everyone visits the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront.  Fondly referred to simply as ‘The Waterfront’ by the locals, they celebrate with fireworks and Champagne in one of the many World Class restaurants they have on offer where the party as you can imagine goes on till the wee small hours.

With a Continent this size you might appreciate that there are a great many regions of Africa, for religious reasons, do not celebrate.  The areas of Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria, which are predominantly Muslim for example, may have any number of UK visitors for that Winter Break but fear not, there are bound to be any number of functions/parties to attend and the tour operators should be able to help you.

Wherever you are and whatever the New Year brings, Epic fireworks would like to once again offer our gratitude for your support over the season and wish you all a HAPPY NEW YEAR.

The Sydney New Years Eve event lasts all day but centres around the two main events:  The 9pm family fireworks at Darling Harbour and the Midnight spectacular taking place at the Harbour Bridge.

With crowds expected to top 1.5 million arriving en masse to see the Harbour event for themselves – this place is not for the feint hearted.

The magnificent midnight display kicks off the rest of the World’s celebrations and in turn attracts International multi-media attention for their fireworks display.

We featured early in 2012 that Kylie Minogue had been announced as creative director.  She has worked tirelessly all year on exploring themes, music, styling and of course a colour scheme for the event.

Kylie, who is best known as a fabulous International singing sensation is renowned not only for her music but for her song-writing, acting and other merchandising was asked to take on the challenge to mark her 25-years in the music industry.

The theme EMBRACE, has been a really hands on experience for Miss Minogue who has been the forerunner in pulling together Australian mobile network providers Testra to create an app for the android phone which will light up phone screens as coloured lights splash the Sydney Harbour Bridge marking the end of 2012 and welcoming in 2013.  It is likely to be one of the biggest events ever tried using the phones in the crowds that has ever been attempted.

The colour scheme is magenta, yellow, purple and blue which are all intrinsic to all areas of the celebrations including the lights, mobile app and of course the spectacular fireworks display’s.  There will also be screens showing 200 specially selected messages of ‘embrace’ throughout the night.  Miss Minogue recently said “embrace is all about acceptance, tolerance, diversity and above all, love”.  Making reference to Sydney she went on to say “in a City of great diversity, we come together on New Years Eve to embrace the future and all that we are and the potential that the future holds.  “it’s all about that magical moment at Midnight when we throw our arms around the people we love and express our happiness”

The traditional fireworks shows will include 100,000 individual creations this year, including a brand new koala, Octopus and hand images up in lights.  Fireworks director Fortunato Foti has said that whilst this year’s display might not be the biggest, it will certainly have people saying ‘I haven’t seen that before’.

Foti Fireworks have been in the pyro business since 1793. Sam Foti holds the record for the largest display shell ever fired which was a 24 inch Silver Kamuro. Foti and the team have been responsible for every display in Sydney since 2000.

Wherever you are this year, whether you are celebrating with family and friends or your pals down the local, in this difficult financial situation, it is more important than ever to pull together and make the best of it.

If you will be having fireworks for your local pub or Community Centre, why not give us a call. We have a massive range of products suitable for a garden display or a full on pyro show. With prices at half the RRP, I daresay that you will be hard pushed to find better quality products at these prices so come along and see us at our bespoke showrooms just outside of Sheffield and have a chat with us about what you want.

All the staff and management at Epic would like to thank you for your custom and wish you a happy and successful 2013.

The London Eye on the South bank of the Thames has once again been chosen as the centrepiece for this year’s New Years Eve Fireworks spectacular in Celebration of what has been described as a ‘triumphant year for the nation’s capital.

The city’s organisers expect more than 200,000 revellers to join in the fun in London for this massive New Year event.  The countdown and fireworks will be broadcast live from the BBC and is themed on the last 12-months including the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations and the Olympic and Paralympic games.

The event is being planned and managed by Jack Morton Worldwide, event planners who work for clients including Nokia and Samsung and events like the FIFA 2010 and numerous other product and virtual sites around the World.

There is limited space in each of the designated viewing areas so make sure you are there early as each area will be cordoned off once filled which last year was well before 9:00pm.  This year’s fireworks display is expected to last around 11 minutes.

“Our New Year’s Eve fireworks will cap a triumphant year for London,” said Boris Johnson.

“As we welcomed the world to the magnificent celebrations for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the glorious success of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, London was at its very best.

“From the thrilling sporting action to the breathtaking cultural celebrations, it has been an unforgettable year and I am immensely proud of the contribution that our ambassadors made to that success.

“As we go into 2013 with a spectacular fireworks display I hope we can build on that energy and enthusiasm to make ours the best big city in the world.”

There are other events in London which the Mayor, Boris Johnson would like people to attend:

• Christmas Carol service – Southwark Cathedral – Monday 17 December.
• 27^th Annual New Year’s Day Parade – 1^st January 2013 – starting at Picadilly at 11:45 – anticipated crowds in excess of 10,000 based on last year’s figures

Making Match Rockets

The fascination with making your own never fades from being a young boy and as we are all 10-years old at heart, we thought you might enjoy this educational piece to see you through the long dark nights for some fun and frolics.

Making rockets from things that you have around the house will cost just a few quid and is great fun too. You will need matches, cheap tin foil, a pin and a couple of paper clips.

Method:

• Wrap a small piece of the thinnest tin foil you can find (weight being important in this experiment) around a match with a pin held along the side which will be removed to create the tunnel for expanding gases generating thrust
• Make sure that the foil forms a tight seal around the head of the match and along the pin for the tunnel and create a point for the top of the rocket – this helps flight – remove the pin
• Bend a paper clip to create a launch pad – not very stable so feel free to experiment with other ideas – we also tried making a launch pad with tin foil which had varied results and some blu-tack which again, had mixed results too
• Then apply heat – preferably a long necked lighter (like the ones you get from any number of market stalls for lighting barbecues) and wait for launch

Some of the ones we experimented with managed up to 10 feet and over and the others fizzed and died or managed an inch or two only but it was great fun anyway.

Just remember, you are using matches so safety first – only do this in a well ventilated area and wear eye protectors. It is also a good idea to keep a bucket of water available to enable you to extinguish any problems that might occur.

You can download a simple DIY pdf sheet with all the instructions here

It has been another great year and whilst we still miss our friends and neighbouring businesses in Batley, not least of all the food outlets, the move to Barnsley was clearly a great decision.

With increased sales to the local region as more people learn that the biggest firework shop in the UK is right on their doorstep and only a mile from Junction 36 of the M1, we had more reason than ever to make sure that we contacted our loyal customer to thank them all personally for their support in these difficult financial times.  The letters all outlined our extreme gratitude for their custom and support over the Bonfire season and a gentle reminder that if they are wanting to have any fireworks for Christmas and the New Year, or indeed for a celebration of a loved one’s birthday or special anniversary, come along to see us before stock levels run low.

We are offering customers who spend over £150.00 a choice of either a DVD player or 5 huge Chinese Lanterns.

As this year comes to a close, we will be thinking to next year and the new products that you may like to see.  We already have a selection in mind, the video’s for which have been sent to us from China.  If I could add that whilst some of these will not currently be classified as 1.3g consumer display fireworks, we will be having our own versions made with any amendments we feel will best demonstrate the effects we are looking for.  We would of course like your input though in regards to this matter.

It only remains for me to once again offer our gratitude for your support over the years and look forward to 2013 to be another great year.

Last night, 2 December 2012, saw the worlds tallest floating Christmas Tree, according to the Guinness Book of Records, illuminated for the first time.  The beautiful 85 metre high tree is decorated with knotted balloons and 3.3million light bulbs and more than a million visitors to the area will take in this majestic spectacle before the end of the holiday season.

The tree, as tall as a 28 storey building is the star of the show but the logistics of adding lighting to this massive structure was quite the task, when you consider that the length of the rope lighting was a pretty grand 105 kilometres in length.  The 17^th Bradescon Seguras tree, built by Brazil’s largest insurance company, weighs a not inconsiderable 542 tonnes.

The light effects on the tree begin with falling leaves, representing Autumn and then turns white with falling snow effects representing all the countries who celebrate Christmas with a White winter and the lights change to colourful balls giving life to the Christmas decorations.  Moving along, we reach Spring and the colourful flowers are everywhere and finally, a golden hue representing Summer for the tree in all its splendour.

The tree will be lit daily until the 6^th January and is likely to attract more than 100,000 visitors to the Rodrigo de Freitas to watch the six minute pyro-display.  Themed “Christmas Around The World” this is the first of three major events in Rio over the next month including the fireworks on the famous Copacabana Beach on New Years Eve.

We drew 4 new winners at random who had registered to Epic Fireworks and have contacted them all by telephone (all 4 winners have all been in touch to claim their winnings – 2 of the winners want the fireworks for the New Year celebrations and the other 2 winners are still deciding) and pictures will be posted at a later date when the winners have had the chance to come along to visit us to collect their goodies.

We will be having another competition next year so keep on registering your details to be sure to be part of this brilliant offer and it could be you.

There appears to have been a massive increase in festive spirit lately and nowhere more so that in the USA at the moment.

As the US celebrate Thanksgiving, it is easy to see why their holiday spirit is already well established and they appear to keep the momentum going all the way through until New Year.

With Christmas just around the corner now, we have been searching for some of the big events which are planning to feature fireworks in their holiday build up celebrations.

Here are just a few and a little about the upcoming events:

PLOUGHKEEPSIE – NEW YORK

Ploughkeepsie has held an annual Celebration of Lights for the last 9-years and this year is no different.  Including a parade to the shore’s of the Hudson River, there will be a huge fireworks display, a tree lighting ceremony and Santa arriving in Town on the back of a fire engine.  The event costs $5 to attend if you wish to stand on the Bridge over the Hudson but I am quite sure that the fireworks will be seen from all across the City for no cost but as they will be collecting for good causes, I am sure a couple of dollars will find their way into the collection buckets even for those who are unable to visit the River themselves.

MAT-SU VALLEY – SOUTH CENTRAL ALASKA

The town has a long tradition of staring the Winter Holiday season with a fireworks display.  It continues to take place on the Saturday after Thanksgiving and is entering its 14^th Year.  Events will include a tree lighting ceremony, the Annual Bachelor’s Ball/Wilderness Woman competitions and is really about celebrating community spirit in the region.

The event is sponsored by businessman Stan Guthrie who sees the event as his opportunity to give back to the community who support small local businesses like his throughout the year.  He has a saying ‘Fireworks spark laughter which builds communities’ which he will strive to continue for as long as he can afford to do so.

WITCHITA – KANSAS

The people of Witchita Kansasare having a ‘Night With Santa’ on Tuesday 4^th December between 6:00pm and 8:30pm.  There will be a tree lighting ceremony  carnival games, bingo, a cake walk (a bit like musical chairs but you win a cake when you are standing on the right numbered square), a benefit concert and of course, some stunning pyro.

The fireworks will be lit over the beautiful Arkansas River and I am sure will be absolutely stunning.

MANHATTAN – NEW YORK

Manhattan New York celebrates the Centennial of the City with a HUGE fireworks event on December 9^th.  There will be two massive state of the art pyro shows set across 8 locations on the Beach and the Pier. The firers have referred to it as a ‘dream show’ and it is certain to wow visitors to the area for its sheer size.

The event will also include the snow-park, five soft sled runs and bouncing balloons.  Whilst there is no admission to the event, donations of tinned food, unwrapped gifts or cash are accepted as this will be taken for charity.

The event also includes a flyover by the US Navy, a dance party and a rock and roll band.

The upshot of it all is, whilst we do things on a much smaller scale, we are not shy when it comes to celebrating Christmas.  Whether yours is a deeply religious affair, an opportunity to get the family together once a year or indeed a fun filled event, fireworks can only add to the magic so get yourself along to EPIC FIREWORKS for all your pyro needs.

We are open every day until 5pm on Christmas Eve and re-open on 27^th December until New Year’s Eve.  If you have any questions about fireworks, we are here to help so please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

What a year it has been here at Epic.  We started the year with a tip to China, Paul got engaged and then married and the Bonfire season has been and gone – phew … But, it still has a few weeks to go yet.

Our minds are now turning to Christmas as many people are enjoying fireworks at their local Town/City Christmas Light turn on, we continue to gear up to the next rush for New Year’s Eve celebrations.

Sometimes nowadays, we are all in such a rush that we forget that this should be a time for families and preparing to celebrate together.

I have always been and shall ever remain a last minute shopper.  I don’t worry about it as one way or another, the shops are only closed for a day or two and our local Premier shop is always open for a couple of hours on Christmas day to get the forgotten cranberry sauce (which only really slips my mind because I don’t like it) or the flour for the Yorkshire puddings which all the family insist on having (despite there being a mountain of food already on the plate).

I am a fan of lists – one for everything I need for dinner on Christmas day and then a repeat of the event on Boxing day for my son and his family as they always visit his mother-in-law on Christmas day and he wants one with ‘his family’ too.  So double up, 2 turkey, 2 pieces of pork etc and on …..

Then, my Christmas present list begins.  I only list the names and if any of the family happens to have made a special request for something specific, this gets added but if not, you will get what you are given as my mother says.  I then fly round the shops in Meadowhall (or Meadow-hell as the locals call it) and do a mad dash, ticking off the list as I go.  I shop like a bloke – the first thing I come to I buy and if there are offers on at Boots, I’m in there!!  Job done I go home to wrap them all and throw them under the tree.

I do wish I gave Christmas a little more thought but to be honest, I am terrible at accepting presents and would rather no-one bothered or just bought themselves something nice or gave the money to charity.  Last year, I sponsored a tiger for my hubby (who loves them) and paid for a star for my son who has always loved astrology.  The issue was though, said star can only be seen from the Southern Hemishere so unless he plans to emigrate shortly, not much chance of seeing that then!!

On Christmas eve, I finish work and then make sure that all the veggies are peeled and ready for the off, Turkey stuffed, wrapped and ready to go and the pork scored and salted to make sure my crackling is good and crispy.  Then, rub some pastry up, make mince pies, sausage rolls and a couple of quiche for tea on Christmas day and then settle back and have a glass of wine or three, have a nice hot bath and put my new PJ’s on (family tradition) before watching something totally soppy on TV.

In years gone by, when I lived with my parents and my brothers, we lived on the outskirts of a small town which was quite remote so if we didn’t make sure we had everything, we were stuck.  I remember one year, my mum had bought some gifts for my granddad (her father) and grumpy (my dads father) but left them at work.  Come the big day – no gifts to give so she took a couple off my uncles and re-labelled them.  However, in the rush, she had not checked what the gifts were.  Both my lovely grandfathers were bald and she had given them a hair tonic and grooming set!!

Christmas is still very special as my beautiful grand-daughter will be three this year and is of course a little chatterbox but she has so much already, we are really running out of things to buy for her.

If we all take a moment to remember this Christmas, spare a thought for a lonely neighbour.  Last year, I invited my neighbour who lives alone to have dinner with us, that he thoroughly enjoyed and it was so lovely to see that despite his usual surly attitude he was a total gent all day and even dressed for the occasion in a clean shirt and jacket.

Celebrate with your family and have a safe and pleasant Christmas from all at Epic fireworks and don’t forget, we are open every day except Christmas, Boxing and New Years days if you should need anything.

Merry Christmas

From all the staff at Epic Fireworks

All those of a certain age (you know who you are) will remember fondly the Griswald’s National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation for the brilliance of the comedy coupled with some of the most garish Christmas decorations in history but the famous Chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang is planning a daytime fireworks show including a Christmas Tree that will simply take your breath away.

To celebrate the Sackler Gallery’s 25th anniversary this Friday this amazing event will be held at 3:00pm in front of the Freer Gallery. The Freer Gallery, which opened in 1923, is the Smithsonian’s first fine arts museum. The gallery houses a world-renowned collection of art from China, Japan, Korea, South and Southeast Asia, and the Near East.

Visitors to the Gallery will be able to see the explosive event for themselves. It is going to have over 2000 fireworks and including specialist lighting and smoke to create a beautiful sight on the 40 foot high pine tree. Cai, internationally renowned for taking the mundane and moving it to another level has said that this will be the perfect union of mother nature and art.

The event will feature three separate explosions. The first will only last a couple of seconds so if you are going along you will have to have your wits about you in order to capture it on camera. The next section will involve a small number of continuous explosions on the tree which will give the effect of twinkling and finally, there will be lights, smoke and the twinkling together to create the full lit tree effect.

This has not been tried in advance as this goes against the artistes ethos as he would rather experience the whole thing for the first time along with the gathered crowds. He has said that the whole thing should, with the addition of the smoke, look like a tree in an ethereal setting but if the wind changes direction, this could affect the display which will result in the whole thing being obliterated by black smoke.

We have featured works by this fantastic artist before including daytime fireworks and they all create art using fireworks out of their usual setting. The Christmas Tree event is not the first exhibition he has held in Washington as he created a giant tornado for the Kennedy Centre and a huge ship in the Sackler Gallery some years ago. We will feature footage of this event once it is available.

Cai is in the USA to receive the first State Department Medal of Arts along with a number of other noted artists.

WHAT: UAE’s 41st National Day Fireworks Display
WHERE: Abu Dhabi city and Madinat Zayed
WHEN: Saturday 1st December 2012 and Sunday 2nd December 2012

The night sky over Abu Dhabi and Madinat Zayed will light up with a series of stunning fireworks display this week to mark the 41st National Day. The height of some of the fireworks will be in excess of 150 meters and the 7 minute show on December 1st on the beach will feature some old favourites like comets, horses tails, volcanoes and some shells before going onto a number of synchronised 10-minute shows of up to 600 meters in length. Crowds in the tens of thousands are expected to join in the celebrations from 8:30 onwards.

The event, managed and choreographed by UK based WRG Creative Communications and Groupe F, one of the leading Internationals Event Management agencies will co-ordinate the shows along the Corniche beachfront in Abu Dhabi which is set to feature more than 17,000 shots in the display from a variety of water craft and on land.

National Day is a celebration for every person in the United Arab Emirates so making sure that everyone in the area can see the displays has been quite the challenge. The spokesman and General Co-ordinator of this fantastic event is Sultan Al Muhairi who said ‘Everyone loves fireworks and these tremendous shows will light up the sky in a sea of white, red and green and let everyone – nationals and expatriates alike – celebrate the spirit of the union’

All of the displays are set to an original song Ya Khalifatna (our khalifa) inspired by the classic UAE song, ‘Zanaha Zayed’ which was a massive hit is 1996 and written by poet Arif Al Khaja

There are other National Day events which are still to be announced shortly and will include activities to keep all the family entertained including Emirati theatre shows at Abu Dhabi Theatre, a two-day Sailing Regetta and a one-off Cultural Festival at the Abu Dhabi Heritage Village on National Day.

For the petrol heads there is also a display including thousands of creatively-dressed cars and 4x4s as they vie for a share of the ‘Best Decorated’ vehicle competition.

The exciting programme of events is set to also include superstar singers from across the Arab world will perform Khaleeji concerts at Abu Dhabi’si National Exhibition Centre.

The video below is taken from United Arab Emirates National Day 2011

Further information can be found here:

Fireworks Extravaganza To Mark National Day Celebrations – http://www.khaleejtimes.com/kt-article-display-1.asp?xfile=data/nationgeneral/2012/November/nationgeneral_November439.xml&section=nationgeneral

Abu Dhabi Emirate to see 17,000 fireworks on National day – http://gulfnews.com/life-style/general/abu-dhabi-emirate-to-see-17-000-fireworks-on-national-day-1.1111014

Fireworks extravaganza to mark National Day celebrations – http://www.ameinfo.com/fireworks-extravaganza-mark-national-day-celebrations-320440

There are not many people who can say hand on heart that they truly love their job but I am one of those privileged few.  I have worked for Epic Fireworks now for a little over a year and a half and I love it.

I have just come out of the other side of my second ‘mad season’ and as the person in charge of the internet orders, it has been completely manic.  Organizing orders from one end of the UK to the other has never been easy but with our busiest season yet, it was a little more stressful this year but we survived and now, the calm before the Xmas and New Year rush is upon us.

As anyone who has dealt with Jimmy and the family over the years, they will know that they love to cook and being a big foodie fan myself, it is torture to come to work when Jimmy is cooking one of his delicious curries, kebabs or tandoori chicken.

I was therefore absolutely delighted when he said that he was going to pass some of his expertise onto me.

So, Saturday is upon us and Jimmy walks into the office with bags of all manner of different things from chicken to chapatti flour and fenugreek to garam masala ready for my cooking lesson.

Today, lesson one is about making chicken tandoori, spicy lamb seekh kebabs, chapatti and yoghurt sauce.

Under normal circumstances, it is usual to add tandoori powder to yoghurt beforehand but Jimmy (from years of practice) believes it better (and healthier) to use olive oil.  Create a sticky paste using 3 tablespoons of tandoori powder, 1 tablespoon of garam masala, ½ cup of olive oil, several (handful of) green chillis and a teaspoon of salt.  Take 8 chicken legs and remove the skin and score the flesh and rub the paste mixture into the meat and leave to marinade for 1 hour +.

Once you are ready to cook, simply place the chicken legs on a trivet tray and cover with foil and cook at 200c Gas Mark 6 for 50 minutes and then remove the foil and turn the meat and cook for a further 10 minutes.  Serve with natural yoghurt mixed with mint sauce and fresh lemon juice.

Next lesson, kebabs….. now we are talking.

Take 2lb minced lamb (or mutton) 1 medium onion finely chopped and 6 chillis 1tbs garam masala, I tsp of fenugreek seeds and 1tsp salt. Mix together and then divide into smaller burger shapes.  Cook under the grill (or on the barbecue) for around 15-20 minutes turning regularly.

Then chapatti.  Take 1lb of medium coarse chapatti flour and a small amount of water to create a stiff dough.  Knead thoroughly and leave to rest for around 10 mins (covered in the fridge).  When you are ready to cook, take a skillet (or a chapatti pan if you have one) or a heavy bottomed frying pan and heat gently.

Meanwhile, remove the dough from the fridge and divide up into around 10 small pieces. Roll into balls and then using a rolling pin, roll thinly into circles.  Once the pan is hot, drop the first of your rolled out chapatti onto the pan and leave it until the top changes to a darker colour.  Then, simply flip over to cook the other side.  Once cooked, leave on the side covered up until you finish the full batch.

Serve all your food on platters with the yoghurt sauce, a green salad and some fresh cucumber.  Beautiful.

So, what did you do at work today!!!

A trawl through the internet gave me the time differences by time zone, and with a little calculation, I found it is possible to do several times.

The first place to hit New Year is Christmas Island/Kirbati in Samoa, when it strikes Midnight there it is a very early 10am in the UK.

Although the distance from Samoa to New Zealand, who celebrate one hour later, is a massive 2097 miles requiring a commercial flight time of 4 Hours 21 minutes it would not possible.  But, it could be done (just) in an Lockheed SR71 Blackbird, which recorded a speed of 2194 mph back on the 28^th July 1976 with pilot Eldon W Joersz at the stick.

Our next New Year occurs in Australia between 1pm and 2:30pm (due to the size of the country and the multiple time zones), from Brisbane to Alice Springs it is a short flight in the Blackbird of just 27 minutes, so again easily done assuming you can travel at over Mach 3 or for those who don’t like to fly just jump into your waiting Thrust SSC car and cruise on up at a relatively slow 763 mph, making Darwin Just in time.

Next landfall to welcome the New Year would be Japan at approx. 3pm, then on to China and Indonesia at 4pm and then on to Thailand for 5pm.

Over the next 3 hours you would be crossing the borders of firstly Bangladesh, then Pakistan and on to Russia and the United Arab Emirates arriving there at 8pm. (what the Russians would make of an Aircraft buzzing their airspace at Mach 3 is anyone’s guess : – )

By passing Iran at 8:30 pm and Iraq 9pm we now move on to Greece where as the clocks strike Midnight, the UK is now just 2 hours behind.

At 11pm the party gets going in Europe from Lille in France to the UK the Eurostar Travel Time is 1 hour 20 Minutes but again possible with a little imagination and a fast boat and waiting car getting you to Trafalgar Square about 10 minutes to Midnight.

Our Epic Journey continues on to Greenland hopefully arriving one hour later, then on to the USA where you can celebrate between 5 & 8am depending which coast you are on.

Final port of call on our trip would be Midway Island in the Pacific for the festivities at 11am.

For a trip of less distance but even more Epic, join us just off junction 36 of the M1 between Barnsley and Sheffield,

We are open for all your Christmas and New Year Needs all year round, closing only on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day and you don’t need to bring an aircraft to catch up with us!!

Disco Stu

Pattaya in Thailand plays host to the International Fireworks Festival once again this year.

Unfortunately, as opposed to the usual ten teams competing, this year there will only be four.

The Competition runs from 30^th November – 1^st December and features teams representing Canada, China, USA and Singapore.  Each of the teams will compete for 45 minutes showing the best of their skills to the massive crowds that this event regularly draws.

This year, four Thai celebrities will represent one of the competing teams as their ‘Team Captain’.

The main event titled ‘Brighten Your Life’ will feature the fireworks show which takes place on the first day of Competition along the beach road which of course will have to be closed to traffic from around 3:30pm onwards.

Activities include:

• Fireworks shows
• Juggling
• 3d painting
• Photography
• A parade
• Cabaret type events
• A concert
• Concessionary booths
• Food
• Refreshments
• Local handicrafts and home-made products

As far Back as the 1980’s the good folk of the Edenbridge Bonfire Society in Kent have been targeting celebrities in the news and recreating them in a “spitting image” way as huge effigies to be burnt at the stake on Bonfire night with a crowd usually around 20,000, which is pretty good when you consider the population of Edenbridge is a mere 8,000.

Lance Armstrong the tour-de-France winning cyclist earned his place in history this year after he was caught cheating when traces of performance enhancing drugs were found in his system. After a lengthy investigation, he was stripped of the Bronze medal he won at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, the seven tour-de-France titles and was disqualified from all races made after 1^st August 1998.

Pictured wearing a now controversial “Jim fixed it for me” badge the 30 foot representation narrowly beat other options which were deemed to be “too volatile”, these were Abu Hamza, George Osbourne, and the disgraced Jimmy Saville.

In 2011 Mario Balotelli famously lit fireworks in a bathroom, and was then made an ambassador for firework safety campaign, which just goes to prove what a weird world we sometimes live in.

Back in 2010 Wayne Rooney was overheard discussing his wishes to leave Manchester United and a 49 foot creation was commissioned complete with “shrek” ears.

Katie Price was in the news in 2009 after her love life became public (after she appeared in OK Magazine) with both Peter Andre and Cage Fighter Alex Reid fighting for her affections and subsequently incinerated, BNP member Nick Griffin narrowly escaped also being targeted but was dropped as a candidate due the “political implications”.

We have to go a long way back to 1981 when a 40 foot puppet of Margaret Thatcher was burnt at the stake just two years into her eleven years in office as Prime Minister.

Which leads me on to the crux of the matter – who would you burn on the bonfire? If you had the resources to make a forty foot life like resemblance of anyone, who would it be?

For over 400 years we have traditionally burnt old clothes stuffed full or rags and made to resemble Guy Fawkes, just one of the conspirators.  Are we being a bit unfair or is it about time we moved on and targeted more worthy causes?  Would this detract from the real reason we celebrate Bonfire night and reflect on the plot of 1605 ensuring it never happens again?

If you have any ideas who you would like to recreate we would love to know and may form a chart list if we get enough suggestions.

Here in the UK we have more than our fair share of celebrations that are shared with the rest of the World but Thanksgiving remains the property of the USA all the way.  However, the Thanksgiving Celebrations, unlike the 4^th of July are not generally synonymous with fireworks.

However, in Kansas City, Missouri they are really looking forward to the celebrations as the city is home to one of the biggest display companies around, Wald and Co All American Display Fireworks.

Daryl Marmon and Steven Whitt have pieced together a musically choreographed display which will set the sky alight tonight as part of the Plaza Lighting ceremony.  The company has been responsible for providing the display for the last 10-years and they have been in business for 89 years.

This year, due to feedback received last year, the location of the display has been changed to allow more people to enjoy the event.

The company fire for corporate events as well as huge community displays like the one this evening.  The good news is that the chance of rain is minimal after 6:00pm this evening so everything should go swimmingly (or not – hopefully!!).

Following on from another Epic year, we have drawn this year’s winner of the Prize Draw for £4000.00 (RRP value) of fireworks to one lucky person/organisation.

Unfortunately, despite phone calls to the landline and mobile and emailing to the lucky winner, they still have not been in touch. In light of this and the interest still being generated, we are going to allow the winner until November 30th to get in touch and then we will be forced to re-draw.

In the event that there is a re-draw, we want to make it fair, given that the original winner would have had all of the fireworks to themselves, we have decided that we will draw 4 winners and they will each receive £1000.00 (RRP value) of fireworks instead.

In order to win it though, you have to be in it so get yourselves registered on our website and your name will also be added into the draw for this fantastic prize.

Imagine New Year’s Eve this year with a magnificent amount of fireworks to light at Midnight with your family and friends!!!

The thing is, like most men, he probably nodded sagely when asked if he could take the film and in all likelihood, did not have the first inkling on how to do this (and in all fairness, i-phone camera’s are notoriously difficult to get right) but, he would not dream of asking for help or advice. Men!!

So, in the interests of ensuring that if everyone who has an i-phone knows how to take a decent shot, we will get more images for our blog/flikr pages so here you go:

• Stand still and pick a good spot
• Make sure the lens is facing the action – not you!
• Look for light – the best way to cut blur, especially with the settings available on i-phone. When taking shots, remove the flash and once you have your position set, use the AE/AF lock as this will ‘set-up’ your phone ready to go. Tap the screen and your i-phone will take some amazing shots
• Don’t zoom in – the camera on an i-phone is rarely optical so it just gives you the impression of what you should be seeing on the picture but this is rarely the shot you will actually achieve
• Try not to use other features on your phone at the same time as this will cause ‘lag’ resulting in more poor pictures

Like anything, practice makes perfect so take as many shots as possible until you are fully familiar with your phone’s camera facility.

I took some shots on a Samsung E770 years ago which had a rather insignificant 1.3 mega pixel camera and they remain some of the best photo’s I have ever taken. Don’t give up without trying and if you do better than the poor lad featured in the video, let us have them and we will feature them on our website.

Last year, we gave brought the news that Manchester City centre was not going to have fireworks on New Year’s Eve because of financial constraints. Back then, Pat Karney, Manchester’s City Centre spokesman, said that he deeply regretted the decision to cancel the annual New Year Fireworks display and went on to admit that “something was missing” from the City’s Celebrations and pledged that “they would return in time for 2013”.

However, it would appear that politically, you can say one thing and do quite another. The decision has been changed again and the council now have the audacity to ask the local traders once again to contribute £20,000.00 for the New Year Fireworks having just blown £175,000 on a recent Alicia Keys concert held in the City.

Needless to say the people of Manchester are not in the least bit impressed regarding this decision and are asking the question, ‘would it have been asking too much, having let down the people who live and work in this City last year, to put the said £20,000.00 to one side for this event’.

What they also fail to realise is that whilst they are allegedly using the funds from the Council to generate custom to the area and to develop areas of the City which were previously overlooked, would it really have been too much to ask to ensure that your own, and their families, manage to have a celebration to suit them all rather than the select few who would have benefited from the Soul Diva’s recent concert.

It would appear that despite assurances, there is unlikely to be a last minute reprieve so club together with family and friends and stay at home with your own food and refreshments and have a few fireworks of your own.

WHAT: Bonfire Celebrations and Fireworks
WHERE: West Sussex
WHEN: Saturday 17th November 2012

At this time of Year, it is not uncommon for the pyro heads to get themselves in a tizzy as they are without their firework fix but fear not, Juju to the rescue.

I have been trawling the net all day to give you some little nuggets to put into your calendar for the coming couple of months to see you through the dark nights until the next ‘biggie’ on New Years Eve.

This Saturday, 17th November 2012, there will be Bonfire Celebrations and Fireworks in West Sussex. This is all for the last 3 Bonfire Societies to have their annual celebrations.

Barcombe Bonfire Society, which has been meeting since 1932 to celebrate community and remembrance of those who lost their lives for their religious beliefs when 17 martyrs were killed for denouncing the Catholic Church and all it stood for.

The event whilst likely to be a celebration also is a deeply spiritual one as a remembrance poppy is lit, during the minute’s silence but no torches are lit which is very moving.

Next we have Robertsbridge Bonfire Society on the 17th November 2012 too, which will be having their celebrations on a similar theme to the one at Barcombe. Go along for a traditional celebration of Bonfire Night with your friends as they parade the streets in their fancy dress outfits.

Finally, another of the Sussex Bonfire Societies has their event on 24th November 2012. Hawkhurst Bonfire Society is holding their annual soiree.

Unlike the Lewes Bonfire display’s and parade’s, these are a more sedate and a great deal safer as the Barcombe, Robertsbridge and Hawkhurst Bonfire Societies are very proud of their injury free record and would like to keep it that way.

If you live in the West Sussex area, go along to show your support and enjoy the fireworks and the traditional Bonfire.

Colours Of The Rainbow – Created In A Chemistry Lab!!

As a young child, I was always fascinated by fireworks but as my main interest was in all things medical, I was not in the Chemistry crew and therefore much of my knowledge about fireworks has come from researching the subject for my job.

There is a little bit of all of us that has that two year old child inside us shouting out ‘but why?’ or ‘but how do they do that’ and here are my attempts to take the mystery out of the colours in fireworks today.

Many of you may know that fireworks were first discovered in China many hundreds of years ago by pure accident. As the good people of China all cooked on open fires way back in time, every time anything was spilt onto the coals, the effects of heat and fire would become apparent. In the first instance, it is said that a cook in the first century accidentally combined charcoal, sulphur and salt peter (potassium nitrate – which was a common ingredient in the curing of meats particularly salt beef and pork for bacon) and the resulting mini explosion caused some interest and so began the history of fireworks and the continuing fascination.

Of course Chinese medicine has always included some strange and often powerful chemicals commonly found in the home so it was not unheard of for people to use them in cooking, inadvertently or otherwise.

Over the years, there has been little change in regards to the chemicals utilised to create the colours and here are the most commonly used:

• Electric White: White-hot metal flakes
• Orange: Calcium salts
• Bright Red: Strontium Carbonate
• Turquoise: Copper Chloride
• Purple: Strontium (red) & Copper (blue)
• Silver Sparkle: Burning Aluminium or Magnesium flakes
• Green: Barium Chloride
• Gold: Glowing Iron or Charcoal powder
• Yellow: Sodium Chloride

We had all planned to win the Euro Millions lottery last night and decided that if we won we would blow £16million to try to beat the ground shaking efforts just days after the 50th anniversary celebrations in Kuwait as they beat the rest of the World to take pride of place in the history books.

The people of Kuwait were treated to a MASSIVE fireworks display, the likes of which have never been seen before. The previous record of 60,000 was held by Portugal when in 2006 they lit up the skies of the beautiful Island of Madeira.

Parente Fireworks held the record breaking event in the presence of the great and good of the country with over 2 million people watching with bated breath. The official adjudicators confirmed “I am happy to verify that with 77,282 fireworks, a new Guinness world record has been set tonight”.

The show featured parades with flying fish, enormous projections on sails and gigantic cubes of light rising from the waters. An incredible flight of airplanes with fiery wings and kites in the shape of falcons created a perfect interplay of fire, lights and music along five kilometers of seafront for a show unlike any seen before.

The display took over 300 technicians and tons of materials including cargo ships, aircraft and containers from all over the World to achieve this wonderful feat. Lasting an hour, the event was a celebration of all things good about Kuwait and was divided into themes including Heritage, Freedom, Pride, Prosperity and Constitution.

This celebration was not just a magnificent feat of engineering and pyro fun but was affirmation of the Country and its struggles to achieve and equilibrium within its people that has been hard going.

The show also achieved the accolade of being the Longest line of fireworks and the largest number of pontoons and craft on the water too.

It may be seen by some as a massive waste of money, given the current economic crisis but at the end of the day, its their money and they get to choose what they do with it.

Further videos, pictures, news, facts etc can be found here folks:

Awesome photos by Cyril Almeras - http://www.cyrilalmeras.com/photos/nuit/feu-d-artifice/index.html?page=%22parente-koweit/index.html%22

Bloomberg TV – Fireworks Boom Over Kuwait to Set World Record – http://www.bloomberg.com/video/kuwait-s-record-breaking-15m-fireworks-celebration-KmtvcWSmThyY0jnp4dK8OQ.html

Picture’s of the world’s largest fireworks display in Kuwait – http://uk.news.yahoo.com/photos/world-s-largest-fireworks-display-in-kuwait-slideshow/#

Business Week – 77,000 Fireworks Boom Over Kuwait to Set World Record – http://www.businessweek.com/videos/2012-11-12/kuwaits-record-breaking-15m-fireworks-celebration

Guinness World Records – Kuwait and the world’s largest ever fireworks display – http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2012/11/video-watch-the-worlds-largest-ever-firework-display-take-place-in-kuwait-45834/

Daily Mail – Gulf state spends £10million to put on the biggest firework display of all time - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2231223/Celebrating-golden-jubilee-Kuwait-style-Gulf-state-spends-10million-biggest-firework-display-time.html

Kuwait 50th Constitution Day: Biggest Firework Show in the World! – http://thesidetalk.wordpress.com/2012/11/12/kuwait-50th-constitution-day-biggest-firework-show-in-the-world/

Those of you with a YouTube account can also subscribe to our special EpicFireworks Blog YouTube Channel and keep updated with all the latest firework videos.

If you find any videos that you think we should add please get in touch

We continue to receive testimonials every day … here is a small selection of the ones received over the last day or two ….

GARY SAID…

Epic were great to deal with. Good advice, very helpful on the phone and fast delivery.
You can watch all of their fireworks individually through links on the Epic website. This really helped us choose the best display pack for the money we had to spend. Note that the videos don’t always do the fireworks enough justice – they were even more spectacular to watch for real!!

We got the King James DIY display pack. About ten families all chipped in towards the cost, including 30 packs of Mammoth Sparklers for the kids (and some “grow-ups”!!).

If you want real bang for your buck, this was a far better way of doing it than all buying separate selection boxes, full of smaller fireworks, which can be disappointing.

WOW!!! WHAT A DISPLAY!!!!!!!

We wanted loud, dazzling, colourful, exciting fireworks. Epic delivered. Stunning!!
Unanimous verdict from all adults and kids at the shindig last night: The best party display they have seen. Thank You Epic Fireworks!!!

MARTIN EVANS emailed:

Just to say that all the fireworks from Epic fired perfectly – great success.

PORTSMOUTH SCOUTS emailed:

Testimonial: Just a note to say thanks for the fireworks … everyone said the best show yet and we have been running them for 20 years – 150 people can’t be wrong.

Call you again next year for another DIY kit. Thanks again

GARY REYNOLDS emailed:

Thank you for a very helpful and prompt service.
The King James DIY package was absolutely fantastic.
Last night’s firework party was a total success. Brilliant!!!

We are delighted with the feedback that we have received and would be most grateful if you would let us know how your display went. We are always striving to make sure that our customer’s are happy and fully satisfied with the service, product and delivery (where appropriate) and if you collected, tell us how you felt about your experience.

Of course we will continue to open daily until Christmas Day when we will shut for Christmas and Boxing Days and return to complete the run up to New Years Eve to make sure that ALL our customers receive their goods in plenty of time for the festivities.

If you have any fireworks or rockets for New Year, you know where to come for the best – EPIC FIREWORKS

Hands up if your a Pyro-Choc-Nic :)

The people of London are being invited along to one of India’s biggest celebrations of the Year, Diwali.

The very heart of London, Trafalgar Square will be an array of light and colour as the celebrations for Diwali take hold.  The celebrations will include light displays, colourful decorations and a mixture of dancing in both contemporary and traditional Indian styles.  This year’s event plans to offer everyone the chance to take part in a traditional circular dance known as the garba accompanied by live music.

2012 marks the 11^th anniversary of the free Trafalgar Square festival where you can expect even more glitz and glamour than ever before.  The festival celebrates the coming together of Hindu’s Sikhs and Jains together with those of all manner of different faiths to celebrate this beautiful event.

With Diwali having such strong religious significance to many people living in and around London and the rest of the UK, there will be prayers for peace and other special messages which will be shared by crowds present at the event, in traditional style in offering thanks and celebrating good over evil.

The word Diwali (or Deepavali) means ‘row of lamps’, and it is common to see lamps during the five day festival as the light symbolises the arrival of Lord Rama as he liberates Queen Sita and quashes the evil Ravana.

There are similar celebrations around the UK but none more spectacular than those at the heart of the Golden Temple at Amritsar.  The tradition of lighting up the temple started in 1619 when the temple was illuminated with lots of lights to welcome home and celebrate the release of  Guru Hargobind from imprisonment in Gwalior fort.  Sikhs have continued this tradition since.  Fireworks displays are commonplace in the late evening after prayers of thanks have been offered.

Here are a couple of the fireworks displays:

Celebrating a golden jubilee Kuwait style: Gulf state spends £10million to put on the biggest firework display of all time.

For the paltry sum of just £10million (YES 10 million pounds) Kuwait earned a place in the Guinness Book of Records last night as it celebrated the golden jubilee anniversary of its constitution in style by laying on the biggest fireworks display in the word.

A dazzling array of colours illuminated the skies above the country’s capital of Kuwait City as a staggering 77,282 fireworks were launched over the period of an hour.

A representative of Guinness World Records announced the achievement on Kuwait television at the end of the display which had been watched by tens of thousands of Kuwaitis and expatriates on the Arabian Gulf Road by the sea.

The visual presentation marked 50 years to the day since the late emir Sheikh Abdullah al-Salem al-Sabah announced that Kuwait had become the first Arab state in the Gulf to issue a constitution and have a parliament.

Before the festivities Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah pledged the government’s continuing commitment to democracy and made a plea for national unity as the wealthy Gulf state struggles with a political crisis.

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The staff of Barnsley Chronicle came along to see us in the midst of one of our maddest of days on the run up to the 5^th to see what we were all about.

They have written a feature about Jimmy Singh (the owner) and Paul (his son) and their transition to South Yorkshire.  All in all, it has been a smooth move and judging by the company’s growth, long may it continue.

Jimmy has been in the fireworks industry for over 25 years and he started out as most do, selling fireworks in his own small convenience store.  Then, as the call for fireworks increased, he made the first move to concentrate on pyro exclusively and the story began.  Moving to Batley was a great idea and was where the real pyro passion started as they introduced 1.3g fireworks, which are the most powerful consumer display fireworks available in the UK.  The business eventually outgrew its surroundings and eventually, new premises had to be located.

The search went on for some-time until they came across land positioned a couple of doors away from the local fire station with enough space to have a bespoke showroom, secure packing shed and areas for large containers (to eventually be replaced by solid structures to contain all the fireworks) and the Epic journey continued.

Epic are proud to be the stockists of the biggest selection of 1.3g barrages (fireworks which you light once but have multiple effects) and 1.3g BIG rockets in the UK’s largest bespoke showroom.

Supplying from Cornwall to Scotland has its challenges, not least of all the transportation of fireworks but we have customers who continue to visit us from all over the UK.

As proud suppliers to Scout Groups, Village Associations, pubs and all manner of different Clubs up and down the Country, we are always on hand to offer advice and assistance for those who need it.

If you want to read more of the article, pick up a copy of this weeks Chronicle.

So, if you need fireworks for any event, whether it’s a special anniversary or birthday, a wedding or New Year’s Eve, get yourself over to us in Tankersley.  We are just off the A61 at Wentworth Business Park (the road that runs around behind Mickey D’s) and we are sure to have something which will suit your needs.

Come along, we are a really friendly bunch and only too happy to help.

Diwali (Dīvali, Dīpāwali, or Deepavali) is a festival of lights observed on the 15th day of the month of Kartika in the Hindu calendar. Many people in the United Kingdom celebrate Diwali each year.

Diwali is a time for spring cleaning in homes and offices. Many homes that celebrate Diwali have assorted sweets, savouries and Diwali herbs. Various lights, candles and sparklers are lit inside and outside homes.

Many people wear their finest clothes to celebrate Diwali. Many women wearing jewellery and silk outfits and some have mehendi, which is a temporary henna decoration, on their palms. Many Indian businesses see Diwali as a day to start the new financial year because of Diwali’s ties with Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth.

Cities throughout the United Kingdom celebrate the Diwali festival with firework displays, dances, plays, street lighting, Diwali lanterns, traditional Indian food, and music. Hindu council representatives, spokespeople from Indian associations, and political leaders publicly announce their greetings to those involved in organizing and participating in Diwali celebrations.

The festival of lights this year is certainly going to be a massive affair in Leicester thanks to O2. Diwali Celebrations in Leicester are one of the biggest outside of India, with up to 35,000 people attending the switch on of the lights on Belgrave Road and even more attending Diwali day itself in the heart of the city’s Asian community. The big switch on will take place on Sunday 4^th November 2012. Enjoy the fireworks display and live cultural entertainment on stage as the festival of light marks the start of the Hindu New Year.

The huge effigy of King Ravana will be torched as the highlight of Dashera celebrations taking place at Cossington Street Recreation ground, Belgrave, on Wednesday 24 October, from 6.30pm until 8pm. The festival of Dashera celebrates the Hindu story of the battle between Lord Rama and King Ravana, and the victory of good over evil. The celebrations will also include children’s funfair rides, a cultural programme on stage and will end with a dramatic firework display.

Other events include the Diwali railway which is going to have the Diwali Trail making its way around the museums site railway but make sure to wrap up good and warm for this special trip. There is a small fee for this and more details are available from Leicester Information services.

There are events later in the month including an exhibition of Vintage Bollywood Sari and a stunning vintage wedding mendap is to be installed on the mezzanine for the occasion. The exhibition runs from 13^th to 17^th November. There is also a dance exhibition including classical Indian dance, Indian hip hop and a mix of ethnic groove.  Get yourself along to experience any of the above or indeed, learn to tie a sari this Diwali as again, there are some workshops on how to achieve the perfect waterfall gather.

Wherever you are and if you plan to join in the celebrations this year, have you considered adding fireworks to the mix. We have the biggest, brightest and most colourful fireworks in the UK and we can deliver to anywhere in the UK.