The Epic Fireworks Blog

Archive for the ‘Pyrotechnics’ Category

The city of Tultepec in Mexico has a very unusual way of celebrating their favourite saint. They strap a whole load of rockets and fireworks to large wooden bulls and the brave young men of the city dance around them as the rockets fly all over the place!

Tultepec is the Mexico’s home of fireworks, with more fireworks makers there than you can shake a rocket stick at with about 80% of the country’s fireworks produced there since the 18^th century. San Juan de Dios is the patron saint of firework makers and a week long national pyrotechnic fair commemorates him. He is famed for rescuing patients from a burning hospital. Nowadays firework manufacturers pray to San Juan to protect their workshops and keep them safe from fire. The annual pyrotechnic fair was started in 1989 to safeguard the rich history and promote the skills of the pyrotechnicians of Mexico.

Firework “Castillo’s” or castles are fashioned in the shape of bulls and other animals in light wood. These are then covered with paper and decorated and painted. They are completely covered in fireworks and rockets and the young daredevils (madmen) jump around them and shout FIRE! FIRE! As they wear only hoods and thick jumpers to protect themselves. The bravest men will stand next to the bulls for as long as they can, it is a matter of pride to stand right next to the exploding structures. Needless to say there are often injuries and minor burns are very common serious burns, sadly are also rather common.

It’s a bit ironic that to honour the saint who saved patients from his hospital, saved them from burning, the locals burn themselves. Surely San Juan de Dios did not like people burning? Or else he would not have saved them? This is the way of traditions however and logic is not always required.

Check the videos, say wow at the madness you see there and please please do not try any of this at home.

A man in Florida this week has been sent down (this is street slang for gone to prison) for storing 20,000 lbs of fireworks in his garage.

The judge gave him 40 years.

The 46 year old man was a convicted felon already with a history of firearm possession and machine gun possession, sure when you consider the dude owns a machine gun it doesn’t sound so bad, but remember we are talking about 9 tons of fireworks. That’s a lot of fireworks, or about $100,000 worth.

In one of the largest illegal fireworks seizures in the counties history, members of the Martin County Sheriffs Office teamed up with the tactical unit, SWAT team, Bomb Disposal Team and the special investigations section to search the mans house, in a scene reminiscent of a late 90’s Hollywood blockbuster.

At the time, authorities said it was one of the biggest seizures of illegal fireworks in county history. The investigation was started after the firework hoarder sold some illegally stored pyrotechnics to an undercover officer.

Some of the colourfully titled fireworks had public-scaring names such as “City crasher,” “Molotov cocktail” and “pyro protest,” always handy for attracting media attention to a story.

A little snap from our trip to China in January. These women work very hard and make fireworks that are sent all around the world.

Here you can see them attaching the fuses to the barrages.

In the factory, all the work is done by the women and supervised by men, ahhh , what a country. Looks like we have a lot to learn from our Chinese friends. (just kidding womens libbers )

The Yenshui Beehive Fireworks Festival is a popular event in the town of Yenshui, Taiwan.

The festival dates back to the late 1800s when the area was blighted by a severe epidemic of cholera, the traditional customs of the time stated that the best way to prevent the cholera outbreak, and protect the villagers, was to parade the streets with a statue of legendary folk hero Kuanyu raised on a palanquin (what’s a palanquin, I hear you ask, well “a passenger conveyance, usually for one person, consisting of a covered or boxlike litter carried by means of poles resting on the shoulders of several men.” of course, duh), setting off firecrackers and warding off the evil spirits responsible for spreading the disease. Kuanyu was a heroic figure in Chinese history from the 3rd century who has through the years become something of a saint to some of the peoples there.

Nowadays, the memory of this festival is kept alive with parades through the streets by a hundred martial arts teams and of course the obligatory thousands of fireworks. The festival has grown from a local tradition into a great tourist attraction bringing in visitors from around the world to see the famed palanquin (remember the description above?) and the statue of Kuanyu. Oh yeah, and the fireworks aren’t bad either. The fireworks are certainly still the highlight of the show however they are being closely followed by a spectacular lantern festival which sees the sky full and illuminated by the sight of the beautiful flying lanterns in the air, this is made even more special by the ignition of specially made stacks of fireworks in the shapes of chariots, golden ingots and giant teapots, all culturally significant items.

It is recommended that visitors see the exhibitions featuring sculpture, teapot designs and performing arts by local artists being held in the neighbourhood of the Kuanyu Temple while appreciating the fun of folk customs. And don’t forget the fireworks!!

Lets slow things down for a minute, super slo mo fireworks.

Footage of the UKs entries into the Philippines International Pyromusical Competition 2010. Good luck lads!!

Enjoy the videos folks, we will bring you more from the other competitors as soon as we have it.

Check out this superb game we found on the internet, make your own fireworks display online and set it to music.

Finale Fireworks Game

1. Add your own music & background

Your shows can be precisely timed to your choice of music – just upload any MP3. You decide where and when each firework effect explodes to create your own custom show.

2. Drag and drop fireworks

Never has been playing with fire so much fun! Discover your creativity with Finale’s easy, drag-and-drop show creation interface. Select from 1,000s of classic fireworks types.

3. Save as a video

Share your Video on Facebook, MySpace, & YouTube. You can also save your videos to your Finale Homepage, and show off your creativity!

Have fun pyro peeps!

This is another level up for fireworks philosophy. We thought we were pretty out there when it came to our obsession with fireworks but this guy takes it even further. This is a very cool interview with frenchman Pierre-Alain Hubert and his take on small fireworks, his use of them and the artistic and philosphical implications. Very cool.

Pierre is an art professor and also a pyrotechnics artist (his words). He has taught in Marseille, France and also at the CAVS dept. of MIT in Cambridge Massaschusetts. Some serious credentials.

Check the video above and see what you think.

It is very refreshing to hear someone talking about fireworks and not merely saying “I like em big and loud”

Of course, everyone has their own preferences for fireworks and we see it here everyday, some people prefer quiet fireworks, some like pretty colours, some go for the size of the effect or how long it hangs in the sky. Many people like gold coloured fireworks and many prefer silver. Some like the classic, red peony – green peony combination that plagues so many consumer fireworks.

The important thing is that we all like different styles; it would be a boring world if we were all the same.

What I like about Pierre-Alain is that he sees the effect at close quarters, rather than looking for a massive cloud of crackles that fills the entire sky, he wants one good crackle that fills his field of vision. He is able to focus on that single effect and make it larger than any massive barrage could produce. By singling out one effect, even one so small, he has brought the firework closer to us and of course, us closer to the firework.

This is evident when we discuss with many of our customers the benefits and drawbacks of Cat 4 or “professional” fireworks. Cat 4 fireworks are, of course, much larger and can create incredible effects that fill the sky and cast brilliant light all around. This is great. However, when you have to stand so far away from the firework (in order to observe safety distances) does it then just become a far away version of the same firework that you could fire with Cat 3 (consumer/display fireworks). We hear time and time again from our customers that use Cat 4 (and use many of our fireworks with them) that our fireworks create just as impressive an effect, and the ability to use them closer to the audience brings the crowd into the display further. Pierre has taken this to the next level, using tiny Cat 2 (garden) fireworks and viewing them much closer has only changed the scale. Not the quality of the effect. In fact he has emphasised the effect by eliminating the background distraction and the need to stare at the distance, taking in the bigger picture. In other words “Zooming in” creates a clarity and undistorted vision and allows the appreciation of the effect in its purest form.

It is always interesting to find other ways of looking at fireworks – literally. We salute Pierre for his unusual way of thinking and encouraging others to take a second look.

It is important to note here that we love big fireworks. Happy philosophising!

A team of marine scientist’s gas discovered the deepest undersea erupting volcano, which is nearly 4,000 feet below the surface of the Pacific Ocean, in an area bounded by Fiji, Tonga and Samoa.

Known as the West Mata Volcano, it has been found by scientists funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration).

“For the first time we have been able to examine, up close, the way ocean islands and submarine volcanoes are born,” said Barbara Ransom, program director in NSF’s Division of Ocean Sciences.

According to the expedition’s chief scientist Joseph Resing, “We found a type of lava never before seen erupting from an active volcano, and for the first time observed molten lava flowing across the deep-ocean seafloor.”

“It was an underwater Fourth of July, a spectacular display of fireworks nearly 4,000 feet deep,” said co-chief scientist Bob Embley, “Since the water pressure at that depth suppresses the violence of the volcano’s explosions, we could get an underwater robot within feet of the active eruption. On land, or even in shallow water, you could never hope to get that close and see such great detail,” he added.

Imagery includes large molten lava bubbles three feet across bursting into cold seawater, glowing red vents exploding lava into the sea, and the first-observed advance of lava flows across the deep-ocean floor.

The West Mata Volcano is producing boninite lavas, believed to be among the hottest on Earth in modern times, and a type seen before only on extinct volcanoes more than one million years old.

According to University of Hawaii geochemist Ken Rubin, the active boninite eruption provides a unique opportunity to study magma formation at volcanoes, and to learn more about how Earth recycles material where one tectonic plate is sub ducted under another.

Further study of active deep-ocean eruptions will provide a better understanding of oceanic cycles of carbon dioxide and sulfur gases, how heat and matter are transferred from the interior of the Earth to its surface, and how life adapts to some of the harshest conditions on Earth.

Also we think it’s a pretty cool video!!! Check it out.

Whether you love the arts or explosives, both come together Friday, December 11 at the East Terrace of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

No, they’re not blowing up the museum, but international famed artist Cai Guo-Qiang will launch a flower — made from gunpowder –into the skies of Philadelphia at around sunset.

The purpose of the explosion is to honour the memories of our cherished friends, neighbours and family members that have passed. Through the eruption, beauty will light up the sky, celebrating life and its gift to us all.

Known for his elaborate displays, Cai Guo-Qiang brings a new meaning to the word eccentric. This blast is part of Guo-Qiang’s Fallen Blossoms exhibit that will be on display through March at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

A series of gunpowder drawings, entitled Light Passage, will demonstrate time’s passing and the role that memory and memorials play in the past.

This is one of the most spectacular explosion that will illuminate the sky, but not for entertainment but to be seen with awe and amazement of what it really represents. Great work Cai!!!