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Do not try this at home people.And turn the volume down a bit before playing.

Of course in the UK firecrackers are not legal for sale to the general public. If they were they would probably be the most popular form of firework going.

The idea with a roll of firecrackers is to roll them out. The clue is in the name. These guys or “hillbillies” to give them there proper name, decided to tape the roll together, thus reducing the overall duration and giving a more spectacular spectacle.

Firecrackers come in all shapes and sizes and in the past have featured some amusing and unusual artwork – firecracker artwork

They also look pretty cool when watched in slow motion – slow mo firecrackers

And if you ever wondered what 10.5 million looked like going off at the same time (we did) – 10.5 million firecrackers

Every year for two weeks in springtime the city of Washington DC comes alive with the National Cherry Blossom Festival. The American capital has 3 weekends of activities planned around this festival and of course there are fireworks!

The Festival celebrates the coming of springtime in the city but also celebrates the receiving of the cherry blossom trees as a gift from Japan in 1912 and a reminder of the friendship between the 2 countries.

From March 27^th to April 11^th the festivities take place, starting with the family day on March 27^th to open the fun. Throughout the 2 weeks there will be a gala dinner cruise, cultural performances, Japanese street festival, a parade and much, much more.

This year the predicted peak bloom period will be between April 3^rd and April 8^th, handily, this gives you enough time to enjoy the blossom after the real main event. The Fireworks!

The fireworks display will be on the 3^rd of April and takes place on he Southwest waterfront. The 4^th of April has a lantern lighting ceremony to light the sky in a much quieter style.

The National Cherry Blossom Festival, Inc. is a not-for-profit organization that coordinates, produces, and supports creative and diverse activities promoting traditional and contemporary arts and culture, natural beauty and the environment, and community spirit and youth education.

For more info on the festival click here.

While the 4th of July for most Americans means a family BBQ and maybe a trip to the nearest city center for the evening fireworks display, some cities around the country make such a special effort on Independence Day that it’s worth a special trip to be a part of the festivities.

If you’re lucky enough to live near one of these big parties, that’s great for you – but if you live in a different part of the country that doesn’t mean you’re stuck reading about them in the paper the next day.

The 4th of July may not be the first holiday that comes to mind when you think about flying off somewhere for a vacation, but you don’t have to be a pyromaniac to use a killer fireworks display as the reason to take a trip. Especially since most of the places listed below are well worth a visit anyway.

Here are the best places to go for 4th of July fireworks and celebrations.

Washington D.C.

There’s nothing to compare with being in the nation’s capital on the nation’s birthday. The annual celebration, called “A Capitol Fourth,” includes a huge parade down Constitution Avenue and a free evening concert on the Capitol Building’s West Lawn. And the fireworks that night? They’re over the Washington Monument. Yeah, this one’s tough to beat for national pride.

Boston

Boston doesn’t limit its July 4th party to one day – in fact, the holiday gives Bostonians the ideal excuse for a week-long party (and you’re welcome to join in!). Some of the things going on in Boston around Independence Day aren’t just for the 4th of July, but they make it easy to continue your celebrations non-stop. Among the festivities running through July 4th are Boston Harborfest, Boston Chowderfest, and a free concert by the Boston Pops Orchestra. The concert and fireworks are centered along the Charles River, and people spend the day – so get there early if you want to secure a good spot. Oh, and for the particularly patriotic among you, don’t miss the reading of the Declaration of Independence at the Old State House.

New York City

As a short person, I’ll be the first to admit that bigger isn’t always better – but that’s not true when it comes to fireworks. New York City claims the country’s biggest fireworks display for the 4th of July, and although the city doesn’t have a huge list of Independence Day-specific events, you don’t need me to tell you there’s plenty more to do in NYC than just stare at fireworks. One holiday event worth noting (as much for its gross-out factor as for its Americana factor) is the annual hot dog eating contet Nathan’s Famous holds out on Coney Island.

Philadelphia

It’s no surprise that the city where the Declaration of Independence was written is a great place to celebrate the 4th of July – and a few days in Philadelphia will let you check off plenty of the sites important to America’s history. The many historic monuments and buildings in Independence Mall have extended hours for the holiday, but you can still expect crowds, so get there early. Events on July 4th include a free concert at Penn’s Landing and the fireworks display over the Delaware River.

Mount Rushmore

Mount Rushmore may not be the first place you think of when you’re planning a July 4th trip, but this National Memorial site has an incredible fireworks display that’s worth making an effort to see for two reasons. First, because of its more remote location the night sky is even darker, making the fireworks themselves more spectacular. And second, because the fireworks illuminate the carved faces of four iconic American presidents. Do note that depending on what day July 4th falls on, the fireworks display may not be on the actual holiday, so check with the Parks Service for more information.

San Diego

While it’s true that the majority of the best places to go for the 4th of July are on the eastern seaboard, the west coast isn’t entirely left out. San Diego boasts one of the top celebrations in California with the “Big Bay Boom” – it’s a fireworks display shot off from barges on San Diego Bay. And if you’re in town for a few days before Independence Day, don’t miss one of the city’s “Star Spangled Pops” concerts.

New Orleans

What does the city of New Orleans have to do with Independence Day? Only that this is a city that will take advantage of any excuse for a party, and do it up right. July 4th events in New Orleans include music throughout the French Quarter and along the river (but this is hardly unusual), and what’s known as the “Dueling Barges Fireworks Extravaganza” at night. It’s a competition of sorts, but it’s a friendly one – and spectators are the true beneficiaries.

Chicago

Another city that always seems ready to celebrate something is Chicago, and the 4th of July is no exception. The party starts early with the city’s annual “Taste of Chicago” in Grant Park where you can get an idea of why Chicagoans are so proud of their hometown cuisine. The event runs for 10 days, ending on July 4th, and also includes musical concerts. For Chicago’s fireworks, you have a couple choices of where to go. You can head for Monroe Harbor to watch the Lake Michigan display (accompanied by the Army Band), or go to Navy Pier instead.

Easter is almost with us, what do you do if you are in Florence, Italy, want fireworks and want traditional entertainment and solemnity with it? Simple, the Scoppio del carro has it all!!

The Scoppio del carro or Explosion of the cart is a great old folk tradition for the city of Florence. Every Easter a cart loaded with fireworks is paraded through the town then ceremoniously ignited by a rocket on a wire to provide a spectacle, fulfilment of a pagan ritual and a great tourist attraction, not necessarily in that order.

This ceremony dates back to the time of the Crusades and celebrates the brave exploits of one warrior, a man called Pazzino de’Pazzi this Florentine is revered for being the first man to climb the walls of Jerusalem in July of 1099. This brave deed won him the respect of his comrades and his commander and he was awarded two shards of stone from the Holy Sepulchre, shards which were later used to start an annual “holy fire” during Holy Week. This ritual fire used to be carried through the city as a religious relic.

So started the tradition of Scoppio del carro, by the middle ages the flame was carried in a simple carriage or carro. By the 15^th century this had evolved into the towering 30 foot tall structure that is still used today. Traditionally it is pulled by white oxen which are covered in flowers and foliage from the first spring plants and accompanied by soldiers, musicians and fancy folk in period dress. The procession starts at the Porta al Prato (door of the Pratt?) and moves to the Piazza del Duomo. That’s where the action is.

Now onto the good part,

The antique Cart is loaded up with fireworks and pyrotechnics and after being paraded through the streets, makes its way to the cathedral square. A thin wire is stretched up to the high alter inside the cathedral. The bells of the Giottos campanile ring out the whole time, and at the appointed moment, the cardinal of Florence lights the rocket head (often called a dove or “columbina”, but in the UK we would call it a pigeon, that shows you the Italians have got class, what we call a pigeon, they call a dove) with the holy fire from the stones. The dove shoots with holy fire to the cart piled high with fireworks, the cart ignites and wheels spin, flares flare, and candles, well, hmm candle. The crowd cheers and another good harvest (pagan again) is assured and good fortune and blessings are upon Florence. The Dove shoots back into the church, presumably to be extinguished by someone distinguished.

And the fireworks blast out, a 20 minute display follows and is enjoyed by all. So if you are in Florence, Italy this Easter and are looking for a fireworks display with a difference. Head along to the Scoppion del carro, you will not be disappointed.

Want to learn about other traditional uses of fireworks throughout the world? No problem, Epic Fireworks have got it covered at our Fireworks Learning Centre

EASTHAMPTON – A decades-old tradition and slice of Americana in this city will be noticeably absent this summer.

The Easthampton-Southampton Kiwanis Club confirmed Thursday that members had voted not to host their annual Independence Day fireworks display in July.

“The cost of the event was getting larger and larger, and the income was not keeping up,” said Kiwanis fireworks coordinator Eric Snyder. “It was becoming a financial risk instead of a major fundraiser.”

The Kiwanis donate the proceeds of their several annual fundraisers to youth programs, sports teams and scholarships.

The event has drawn between 15,000 and 20,000 people to the city from the surrounding area, according to police estimates.

The event featured live music on several stages, face painting and other attractions.

This year would have been the 35th fireworks display. There are currently no plans to bring the event back next year, Snyder said.

“We could re-evaluate the situation after this year, and they may come back if the economics change,” he said.

Snyder said that the event’s price tag was in the vicinity of $20,000 and climbing. This year, a community policing grant that had paid for much of the patrols of the event dried up, further increasing projected costs.

Snyder called the fireworks “a labor of love” and said that Kiwanis members are disappointed to have to call off the event for financial reasons.

Mayor Michael A. Tautznik said this week that the event would be missed.

“There’s going to be a big hole this summer,” Tautznik said.

The display was canceled twice in recent years, but never for financial reasons.

In 2006, officials discovered perchlorate, a firework byproduct, at Galbraith Field, the longtime launch site. Williston Northampton School officials opted to cancel the fireworks that year out of concerns for the groundwater.

The fireworks display moved to a new location at White Brook Middle School, with organizers agreeing to a number of safety precautions against contamination.

The event was canceled in 2008 because of forecasts of heavy rain, but went off without a hitch last year.

More than 60,000 people flocked into Manchester city centre to celebrate the Chinese New Year.

Spectators watched a 175ft paper dragon weave through streets between Albert Square and Chinatown to the sound of drums and cymbals.

For the 18,000 Chinese people living in Greater Manchester it is the most important event on the calendar and organisers again pulled out all the stops to celebrate 2010 – The Year of the Tiger.

There were food stalls, kung fu demonstrations by Shaolin martial arts monks, acrobatics, and folk dance performances plus a firework display during the eight-hour festival.

A god-like figure also handed out red packets – the colour of good luck – to visitors, and the hundreds of stalls included jewellery and crafts.

Traditionally, Chinese New Year celebrates the start of new life and the season of ploughing and sowing.

The tiger is the Chinese zodiac sign associated with courage, passion, and power.

Tyze Kai Tai Li, chief organiser of the celebrations, said: “New Year is the important celebration for the Chinese in Manchester and across the world, and we want to welcome everyone to celebrate with us.

“We expected 16,000 people and we got even more than that. The celebrations get better and better each year. This year is even bigger than last year, because there was snow and people didn’t stay that long. When the weather’s good it always helps.”

The Manchester festival event ended with a huge fireworks display, but parties carried on into the night. The noise of the fireworks is aimed at frightening off evil spirits.

Festivities traditionally last 15 days in China, but that is often shortened in other countries, including Britain.

During the first week, family and friends gather and perform rituals that bring good luck. The second week ends with a lantern festival.

Brilliant high quality video of Chinese New Year fireworks in Marina Bay, Singapore. Send us your vids to see them right here at the best fireworks blog in the world.

Well, its that time again, and it wouldnt be the Olympics without the opening  ceremony fireworks display, so here it is. enjoy!

Chinese New Year is almost upon us and is always a great excuse for a fireworks display. Also known as the Spring Festival or sometimes the Lunar New Year, this is by far the largest celebration in China and is celebrated by over 1 billion people worldwide. This year the date falls on the same as Valentines Day so if you are looking for an opportunity to express your love for the Chinese culture, you will never get a better chance.

Each year in the Chinese calendar is represented by an animal and this year it is the turn of the Tiger. The animal of your birth year is said to give an insight into the characteristics of the individual. So if you were born in the following years, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998 or indeed 2010 (although you are less likely to be reading this), what does it say about you?

Tiger people are sensitive, given to deep thinking, capable of great sympathy. They can be extremely short-tempered, however. Other people have great respect for them, but sometimes tiger people come into conflict with older people or those in authority. Sometimes Tiger people cannot make up their minds, which can result in a poor, hasty decision or a sound decision arrived at too late. They are suspicious of others, but they are courageous and powerful.

So now you know.

If you would like to learn more about the culture and traditions of the Chinese New Year, have a look at the Epic Fireworks Learning Centre which is packed with interesting facts and information –

So enough about history and tradition, get to the fireworks!

Fireworks have been used to celebrate Chinese New Year for centuries and this year will be no exception. There are festivities taking place all over the UK and indeed around the globe, here’s just a few of them.

• England –  London

Fireworks will illuminate the skies above London on February 21st when the capital’s Chinese community and visitors from across Europe descend on the city to welcome in the year of the tiger.
Chinese New Year is always a spectacular affair and this year Trafalgar Square and Leicester Square will be transformed with wonderful decorations and superb shows.
A selection of international and home-grown dancers will take to the streets to perform music, acrobatics and more, with firecrackers, Chinese dragons and lions adding to the spectacle.
There will also be some special goings on in Chinatown, with cultural stalls, food and fireworks in abundance.

Indeed the London celebrations will be the largest outside of Asia. With an exhibition at London City Hall displaying some stunning Chinese calligraphy and painting works from Beijing Municipal Institute of Culture and History.

• USA – New York

Art director Ethel Kessler worked on the new series of postage stamps with illustrator Kam Mak, an artist who grew up in New York City’s Chinatown and now lives in Brooklyn. They decided to focus on some of the common ways the Lunar New Year Holiday is celebrated. To commemorate the Year of the Tiger, they chose narcissus flowers, considered auspicious at any time of year and thus especially appropriate at this time of renewed hope for the future.

This is the second time the United States Postal Service has commissioned a Lunar New Year stamp series. It began its first Lunar New Year stamp series in 1993 in the Year of the Rooster, and completed that 12-year cycle in 2004, in the Year of the Monkey. The current stamp design incorporates elements from the previous series of Lunar New Year stamps. The first series was designed by artist Clarence Lee.

Typically, the Chinese start the New Year with a bang – or rather, many bangs. You can expect to enjoy a huge fireworks display while in New York – its thought that some 600,000 rounds of firecrackers are set off in celebration. That’s a lot of firecrackers!

Fireworks are used as part of an old tradition of frightening away any evil spirits that might be lurking around to spoil the New Year and the display is usually attended by a bevy of high-ranking officials and famous figures.

After the excitement of the fireworks, numerous dance troupes work their way along Chinatown’s main streets, kick-starting a massive festival filled with cultural performances.

• China – Hong Kong

Hong Kong banks were beginning Monday to print 200 million new notes for people to give away as “lucky money” during the Chinese New Year holiday. Up to 10 billion Hong Kong dollars (1.28 billion US dollars) will be given away in traditional red envelopes to children and young people during the holiday.

Long queues form at the city’s three note-issuing banks in the weeks running up to holiday with Hong Kong people insisting on using only crisp new banknotes as part of the annual tradition.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority said that 266 tons of cotton was needed to make the extra 200 million banknotes.

The new notes occupy 333 cubic metres of storage space, enough to fill 13 shipping containers and delivering them will take 5,000 security van trips.

Record sums of lucky money are expected to be handed out in the wealthy city of 7 million residents, to mark the start of the Chinese Year of the Tiger.

Most envelopes this year will contain 20-Hong-Kong-dollar bills. In leaner economic times, more people give out the smallest denomination, 10-Hong-Kong-dollar notes.

In Hong Kong, where the parade hits Tsim Sha Tsui East on the Kowloon peninsula on Chinese New Year’s Day, and spectacular fireworks can be seen over at Victoria Harbour. Visitors should also watch out for the Chinese New Year Fiesta, which features stage performances held at the New World Centre and the Avenue of Stars.

No Chinese New Year Celebrations would be complete without a lantern festival, this is normally on the 15th day of the festival and marks the end of the celebrations, the lanterns used here differ from those used in the mid autumn lantern festivals and tend to be red and oval shaped. All over mainland China right now there will be millions of these lanterns, of all different sizes hung up in hotels, restaurants, clubs and teahouses in preparation for the upcoming celebrations.

Of course if you would like to arrange your own lantern festival check out Epic Fireworks Lanterns and fill the sky with light on the 15th Day of the Chinese New Year.

THE sky over an Aberdeenshire village was lit up with colour in an annual fireworks celebration designed to dispel the January blues.

Around 1,500 people gathered for the 10th annual fireworks festival at Johnshaven harbour last night.

The celebrations are organised and funded by local residents who are keen to bring some festivity into one of the least eventful months of the year.

The fireworks were due to be held on January 10 but had to be postponed due to the severe weather conditions.

Bobbie Still, owner of The Ship Inn, helps to organise the event and says residents were determined that the heavy snow would not stop the festivities.

“This is our 10th year,” she said. “It was started on the millennium with a few fireworks.

“The village wanted to carry on the tradition.

“I think everybody likes fireworks. It’s really good.”

People from as far afield as Inverurie gather at the village harbour every year for the popular event.

A barbecue was provided for visitors before local fire dancers Fire Poise performed for spectators at the harbour yesterday.

Officials from Fireworks Scotland set off the colourful display before Chinese lanterns were lit, in a new addition to the event.