The Epic Fireworks Blog

Archive for the ‘Pyrotechnics’ Category

Oriental Fireworks, although a fairly new name in the UK fireworks industry has already established itself as a producer of high quality display barrages. This is well illustrated by the success of the small 25 shot barrage King Cobra. This sensational small barrage could not have been more popular and was one of our best sellers of last year.

This new single ignition barrage by Oriental Fireworks has a lot of noise and is perfect for lovers of loud fireworks. 100 shots of screaming spinning tails rise up to loud reports (bangs) that will definately make an impression at your fireworks display, whatever the occasion.

Heres the review:

Oriental Fireworks has a lot of noise to make and they do it well with the Jet Screamers 100 shot barrage. This is an insane and terrific noise maker. Screaming jets of spinning tails rise into the air and explode with very loud reports. If you want to make a lot of noise and get noticed this is definitely the way to do it. Perfect for daytime events or anyone who likes to make a racket. This is our favourite new noisy firework and we are sure it will be yours too.

So there you have it, not a lot to say about this one except loud loud loud!!!

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

Awesome fireworks, awesome effect.

Fireworks technology is advancing and these brilliant cube shells are a result of that. This is stunning, a large cubic shape in the sky that really shows off the designers talents.

Whats next for fireworks design? watch this space to find out.

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!