British Firework Championships Programme 2022

Welcome to Plymouth, Britain’s Ocean City for the British Firework Championships, which is now in its 25th year.

We’re delighted to welcome six of Britain’s most talented pyrotechnic companies, who will each put on an incredible display in a bid to be crowned the British Firework Champion 2022.

We’re hugely proud to be involved in such an impressive event which attracts thousands of visitors to enjoy our wonderful city.

As anyone who’s ever stood on The Hoe looking out at the Plymouth Sound National Marine Park will know, Plymouth’s stunning and historic waterfront provides the perfect backdrop for this exciting and glittering two day showdown.

This really is a must-see family event with free entertainment including live music, fairground rides and refreshment stalls on Plymouth Hoe. The fi rework displays generally begin as dusk falls at 9.30pm, with three ten-minute displays to enjoy each evening.

As always, we would like to thank The Event Services Association (TESA) for their continued partnership.

We wish you a warm welcome to our brilliant city and hope you enjoy this truly memorable competition.

Councillor Sue Dann Lord Mayor of Plymouth

For more information about what’s on in Plymouth please see visitplymouth.co.uk or follow @WhatsOnPlymouth on Twitter and Facebook.

About the British Firework Championships

Welcome to the 25th Annual British Firework Championships here in the great city of Plymouth.

The Championships have been run here every year since they started in 1997, until the pandemic led to the cancellation of the 2020 event.

This year is set to be another classic with Nemisis Pyrotechnics, Europla Displays UK, Phoenix Fireworks, Fully-Fused Fireworks, Sonic Fireworks and Wizard Fireworks all vying to be crowned British Firework Champions 2022.

If the weather is good, we’ll be joined by some 100,000 people across the two nights with more watching highlights on TV.

In the firework industry, the British Firework Championships are now firmly established as the leading national competition where companies can demonstrate their skills and showcase all the latest fireworks available.

In the south west, the event is now a firm favorite in the summer and is the largest free to enter public event. Huge thanks to all the event sponsors who’ve given their support. The event, which is organised every year by The Event Services Association, the trade body for the events industry in the UK, is run in partnership with Plymouth City Council.

All you have to do is enjoy the funfair, food and find yourself a spot anywhere on the Hoe or along the coast road to marvel at the six incredible displays.

What is TESA?

The British Firework Championships is owned by The Event Services Association (TESA) and has been run, in partnership with Plymouth City Council, since 1997.

TESA was launched in May 1990 and represents organisers, promoters and suppliers involved in the event industry throughout the UK.

The Association was originally established to promote good practice in the industry as well as to provide a focal point for information. However, it also recognises the need to support its members by promoting their businesses and interests.

TESA has strong links with other trade bodies in the event industry with whom it works from time-to-time. This has most recently been evident in the online publication of The Purple Guide which is regarded as the Bible for every aspect of event organising. For more information go to www.thepurpleguide.co.uk

For more information about TESA please contact Kevin Minton on 01291 636335 or email kevin@jandmgroup.co.uk

How is it going to work?

This is the 25th running of the British Firework Championships here in Plymouth. This has been seen by millions of people over the years and we’re anticipating tens of thousands of people to watch it live each night this year and many more watching all the TV highlights and online video.

Starting at 9:30pm (as soon as it is dark enough) there will be three 10 minute displays fired from the Mountbatten

breakwater. Each display will use up to 550kg Net Explosive Mass (NEM) of fireworks. That’s over three tonnes of pure explosions – plus all the rigging, stands, wiring and safety gear – we’re talking tonnes of kit! Because we’re firing from the breakwater, you can take a stroll, enjoy the funfair, all the catering on off er before finding a spot anywhere on the Hoe and coast road to enjoy a great view of the displays.

Special for 2022

To celebrate The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, each team has been asked to include a special tribute within their display.

The Judging

The Championships are judged by a panel of expert, and local judges, under the guidance of the competition adjudicator The Event Safety Shop. and organisers The Event Services Association.

The local judges are asked to judge the displays on four diff erent aspects and these are the questions they will be asking themselves:

1. The variety of fi reworks and sequences used: Was there enough variety in the diff erent eff ects and did the way they worked together impress you?

2. Rhythm of the Display: Did the fl ow of the display work to hold your attention and did it run smoothly?

3. Use of Colour: Was the use of colour in the display eff ective in grabbing your attention and adding to the quality level of the show?

4. Overall Impression: What was your overall impression of the Wow factor of the show in its entirety? In the meantime, the expert panel will be asked to judge the technical aspects of each display based on four key aspects:

1. The quality of the show design and performance

2. Compliance with fi ring brief

3. Symmetry, patterns and timing of the display

4. Overall Artistic Impression of the display

Fireworks through the ages

Reproduced by kind permission of John Bennet, editor of Fireworks Magazine. No British schoolboy needs reminding of the story of Guy Fawkes, The Gunpowder Plot conspirator whose name has been linked in the public imagination over the centuries with the attempt to overthrow the government of James I.

In fact Fawkes, a soldier born in York, was not the leader of the Plot but was discovered in the vaults before the opening of Parliament. Somehow Robert Catesby’s Night does not have the same ring about it!

However, a fire celebration at the time of year at which Guy Fawkes’ Night is celebrated pre-dates Fawkes by at least 2000 years!

The inhabitants of these islands celebrated at a festival called Samhain - at which bonfires were lit. It is believed that these were designed to ward off evil spirits as the dark days of Winter approached in days when there was no artificial light to alleviate the gloomy, short days.

Why Guy Fawkes (or the Gunpowder Plot conspirators) became associated with the annual firework celebration is easy to establish.

Firstly the government wished the populace to be constantly reminded about a Roman Catholic plot which had threatened (or promised if you were a Roman Catholic!) to introduce Catholicism as the mainperhaps only - Christian creed in this country. This would have been why a contemporary declaration decreed that the Fifth Of November should be an annual public holiday in this country. Sadly this decree is no longer observed!

The date, the Fifth of November, was also significant for religious reasons in that it was on this day that the protestant William of Orange (who was to become William

III) landed in Britain to replace the Roman Catholic King, James II.

But, perhaps even more significantly, the Plot held all the necessary constituents of a fiery celebration. There was gunpowder involved - even if it was never lit and never, as it undoubtedly would have done, destroyed the Palace of Westminster which pre-dated our current Houses of Parliament.

It also involved the burning of an effigy - a relatively common occurrence at the time. Poor Guy Fawkes was not burned - but hanged, drawn and quartered - a barbaric fate reserved for traitors at the time.

Although Guy Fawkes is burnt in effigy on thousands of bonfires in Britain, St Peter’s School in York is an exception, for the understandable reason that Guy (or Guido as he was sometimes known) was a pupil of that school. Indeed, it was only in recent years that the school celebrated the event at all.

The word ‘guy’ may not even refer to Guy Fawkes, with some associating the effigy with guisers (people, like mummers, who dress up to stage ancient dances and performances) and others attributing the name to a word, meaning log, which had associations with a Druid festival.

Fireworks were associated with Guy Fawkes’ Night from soon after the Plot - as we know from the Diary of Samuel Pepys. But then they were used to mark any form of celebration. The back garden fireworks of the time - squibs, serpents, crackers often made in unsuitable surroundings of the

fireworkers’ homes in busy crowded streets - are described by Pepys, and many of the fireworks familiar to us - like rockets and fountains - were known to him as well.

Sadly, not everyone was as detailed as Pepys in the records they kept and - like other aspects of the lives of ‘ordinary’ people - firework use by the populace before Guy Fawkes went largely unrecorded.

We do know however that 1487 saw the use of fireworks at the coronation of Elizabeth of York (bride of Henry VII) - where a dragon spouted fire into The Thames. That said, Queen Anne Boleyn, also witnessed fireworks at her coronation where ‘wild men casting fire and making a hideous noise’ were part of the celebration.

Anne’s daughter, Queen Elizabeth I, created the position of Firemaster - so enamoured was she of fireworks.

A firework display was planned to celebrate the first ever ‘Fifth of November’but it never took place.

Display audiences of the early nineteenth century and before would not have even been able to witness colour in fireworks. Many tricks were tried to suggest that the displays had colour - like coloured glass screens in front of non-coloured fireworks - and the use of pitch, oil and resin rather than gunpowder. Today metallic salts provide colours (strontium red, copper blue, barium green and sodium yellow).

Another way in which earlier display audiences were kept amused without colour was by the use of ‘machines’. Machines were backdrops for the fireworks, often designed by leading architects of the day.

Some of these were made of fabric and wood, but others (one in Versailles was made of red marble) were permanent structures and stood long after the fireworks had been lit. The machine would often be in the form

of a temple or an important building and they would hide the rudimentary fusing used to communicate the fire from one firework to another - and indeed the fireworks themselves which did not have pretty wrappers as they do today. Another compensation for colour was size and quantity. Huge rockets (far bigger than anything used today) were fired in flights of hundreds and thousands and must have made a tremendous noise. And noise was something which was not in short supply. While there were no ‘cakes’ (the modern fireworks comprising many tubes), ground fireworks (pots) would be fired giving a similar (or even more spectacular) effect.

But gold, silver and white were used in increasingly imaginative ways as the years progressed. Fireworks such as six pointed suns with moving parts between and spinning wheels of incredible complexity pleased audiences then. Perhaps because we have such interesting effects now, display operators have lost the art of ingenuity? The Maltese and Spanish, though, cannot be accused of this!

Today Guy Fawkes celebrations are as popular as ever - both the use of shop fireworks and the witnessing of displays. Safe use of garden fireworks is a considerable joy, and public displays provide more spectacular sights. Modern displays often feature mainly aerial fireworks - and this is the main difference in firework presentation today with a display of a hundred years ago.

Many can remember when ground fireworks - including amusing pieces like chickens laying eggs and men riding bicycles were part of the show. Now shells (fired by mortars (long cardboard tubes)) form an important part of the major firework displays. These are quite rightly not available to the general public and are fired by operators who know their business.

Fireworks are a source of colour, noise and excitement. Many argue that fireworks represent an art form rather than chemistry. They may have a point. Whatever your view, and whether you use garden fireworks or go to displays, or both, always play safe with fireworks. And they will afford you immense pleasure.

WIN £500 WORTH OF FIREWORKS! FROM EPICFIREWORKS.COM

This is the 25th year of the British Firework Championship draw with two superb prizes of £500 worth of fireworks to be won’.

The prize has been kindly donated by Epic Fireworks.

About Epic Fireworks

Epic Fireworks is the UK’s largest online fireworks supplier and they will be providing the winner with their prize.

You can find out more about Epic Fireworks by visiting www. epicfireworks.com

How to Enter

All you have to do to take part is visit www. britishfireworks.co.uk and answer the simple question. All correct entries will go into a draw and the winner will be picked on 25th August 2022.

Two chances to win £500 worth of Fireworks

This is the 25th year of the British Firework Championships and to mark this great occasion we have organised a Championship draw with two superb prizes of £500 worth of fireworks to be won. The prizes have been kindly donated by Epic and Ghengis Fireworks. The first winner will receive £500 worth of fireworks from Ghengis.

About Ghengis

Ghengis has years upon years of experience in the business and are one the UK’s most significant, reliable and trusted firework retailers based in Chatham, Kent, UK. Visit them at www.fireworks.co.uk.

How to Enter

All you have to do to take part is visit www.britishfireworks.co.uk and answer the simple question. All correct entries will go into a draw and the winner will be picked on 25th August 2022.

The Beginning of Fireworks

Reproduced by kind permission of John Bennet, editor of Fireworks Magazine.

Nobody knows when the first fireworks were made, but fireworks were being used in ancient China long before they were known in other parts of the world.

Two important Chinese inventions are used in fireworks - paper and gunpowder. The mixture we call “gunpowder” was used in China to make fireworks long before the invention of guns. It is a mixture of three things that have been known in China from ancient times. The first is charcoal, the black solid formed when wood is heated in a fire. The next is sulphur, found in many parts of the world as a peculiar, crumbly yellow stone. When sulphur is put into a fire, it melts and burns with a blue flame, making a dreadful smell. The ancient Chinese used sulphur as a medicine.

The final thing that goes into gunpowder is saltpetre, a white powdery material that looks just like ordinary salt.

It is found naturally in the drier parts of China and was used as a medicine and in cooking. Anyone who happened to spill some saltpetre into the fire would have noticed that the hot coals burned very fiercely around the melting saltpetre. Perhaps this gave someone the idea of mixing saltpetre and charcoal together and setting it alight. This mixture, if the proportions are just right, burns quickly and throws out glowing sparks. With some sulphur added, the mixture burns even more rapidly, making a lot of smelly smoke. When it is put into a paper tube, or a piece of bamboo, and set alight, the burning mixture shoots out a jet of fire and sparks.

If the end of the tube is closed up, and the gunpowder is lit through a small hole, the jet of fire shoots out further. If the hole is very small, the tube sometimes bursts with a loud bang.

This discovery would have been very exciting for the ancient Chinese. They liked to make loud noises at festivals and religious ceremonies, to scare away evil spirits. Before the invention of gunpowder, sticks of bamboo were thrown into fires to make loud bangs. Gunpowder would have been a great improvement. Perhaps at first it was just put into bamboo tubes and set alight. Even if it did not always make a noise, the smoke and sparks would have helped to keep evil spirits and demons away. Eventually, someone worked out how to make a fuse out of very thin paper and gunpowder twisted into a long string. With this fuse, it became possible to make firecrackers that exploded reliably.

The firecrackers for religious festivals were often made out of red paper. The fuses were plaited together to make long strings of firecrackers. When these were set off, they made a lot of very loud bangs and little bits of red paper were scattered far and wide. Evil spirits were supposed to be frightened of red, and so they would be kept away by the scattered pieces of red paper long after the firecrackers had finished. Chinese firecrackers are still used in huge numbers every year in Chinese festivalsand just for fun!

Sometimes a firecracker that has not been made properly does not explode but instead shoots out a jet of fire and flies away in the air or along the ground. This is a very primitive rocket. The ancient Chinese made rockets by fixing tubes packed with gunpowder to sticks, that kept the rockets pointing in the right direction as they flew through the air. These early rockets were used in festivals, and also in warfare as “arrows of flying fire”. They were very effective against soldiers on horseback.

The unknown Chinese inventor who first sent a tube of gunpowder into the sky on the end of a stick would have been very surprised to learn that people would one day travel to the moon with the help of giant rockets.

Another Chinese discovery, still used in modern fireworks, was that powdered iron mixed with gunpowder made beautiful, flowerlike sparks. The ancient Chinese did not know about the chemicals needed to make coloured flames and white sparks. Fireworks with these effects were developed in Europe over the last two hundred years. In recent times, the Chinese have set up large factories to make fireworks for sale all over the world. As well as the traditional Chinese firecrackers, these factories make a huge variety of fireworks ranging from sparklers and tiny fountains to the colourful star shells used in big fireworks displays.

NEMISIS PYROTECHNICS

Nemisis is an extremely progressive and imaginative display company with twenty years experience in the professional firework display industry. We have a reputation of being at the forefront of show design and production, with flair, ingenuity and originality, creating pyrotechnic spectaculars that befit the occasion, venue and the brief, in a professional and safe manner.

We now have display teams based in Cheshire, Cumbria, Edinburgh, East Anglia, Sussex and Northern Ireland, and operate throughout the UK and Ireland; all teams are fully trained and conversant with relevant Health and Safety law and regulation. We are now capable of firing up to eight large-scale displays on any one date at varying locations.

Nemisis performs displays for all types of occasions from private parties, weddings etc, through to concerts, proms, carnivals, festivals and corporate launches, we have created and fired displays from every type of location and venue including, parks, sports grounds, roof tops, cliff tops, sea and river barges, coastal displays and castles, for all types of clients.

Nemisis has performed for the rich and famous, the not so rich and the not so famous, councils large and small, budgets small and large, all have one thing in common,

Nemisis promise to create a spectacular show that is safe and memorable for all the right reasons.

Nemisis operates throughout the

Wednesday 17th August 21:30

Aston, Cheshire CW5 8DB

Telephone: 01270 780968

Mobile: 07523 166735

Email: nemisisfireworksuk@gmail.com www.fireworkuk.co.uk

United Kingdom, and Ireland, we have fired the immense firework display for the Northwest 200 Motor bike Race, Ireland’s largest sporting event, with over 100,000 spectators. The BBC Proms In The Park, and for many prestigious Castles and Stately Homes. Safety is our primary concern, all displays are fully risk assessed, and completed risk assessment reports are provided to all concerned parties, each Nemisis display is covered by comprehensive public and product liability insurance, all teams are fully trained display operators, and have a team leader with who will have fired a minimum of 300 shows.

EUROPLA DISPLAYS UK

Europla Displays UK was created in 2017 to showcase the very best product from the Far East and Spain alongside one another in a unique and creative way. From its humble roots in Olive Tree farms, set in Belgida, not far from Valencia, Europla began manufacturing fireworks back in 1977. From here, they developed some of the very best products available in mainland Europe and now arguably the world.

With a unique colour palette of 13 distinct and individual colours, Europla are able to create displays evoking warmth, coolness as well as impressive vibrant colour combinations you will not see elsewhere.

Mixing colour with noise is also a speciality, so you will also hear effects such as Whistles, Screamers and Screechers, all made specifically without plastic enabling a wide range of audible effects as well as visual.

With clients ranging from councils to very particular corporate clients requesting the very best colour matching available, Europla Displays will continue to strive for absolute excellence in consistency, vibrancy, quality and delivery for all its customers.

We hope you enjoy our show.

Co-Director and Designer – Simon Harding

Wednesday 17th August

21:50

Europla Displays UK

Bath, Wiltshire BA1 6RW

Telephone: 07881 915101

Email:

simon@easterneuropla.co.uk

www.europla.co.uk

PHOENIX FIREWORKS

Originally the company was owned by Ian Craig (a long time resident of Sevenoaks) and subsequently was taken over. Under new ownership for over 18 years, the company has undergone major investment and improvements; ultimately leading to the collection of the two major British awards in the industry.

Phoenix has its main office in Kent, and over the years has expanded into new offices across the country. The Manchester base has been going for over 20 years, and the West Country base started in January 2019. This enables Phoenix to do displays across the whole country.

Safety is a by-word within our profession, with more regulations than the nuclear industry we have a lot of interested people to keep satisfied. Enshrined in that culture is Phoenix’s need to maintain the highest possible safety standards.

Planning for a successful display is an absolute must. The display you see on the evening is the culmination of a long and detailed exercise in fireworks selection, layout and of course design. Once these elements are brought together the fireworks are fused and put onto frames for display. This process can take weeks to complete.

In 2019, Phoenix Fireworks also acquired the long established and respected Kimbolton Fireworks. Phoenix and Kimbolton will run alongside each other, with Phoenix specialising in displays and Kimbolton in retail and trade sales.

FULLY FUSED FIREWORKS

The team at Fully Fused Fireworks have been in the industry full time for the past 50 years with some amazing credits including being the first company from the UK to win the Festival of Fireworks in Monaco and being runners up in Macao China – beating the Chinese into third!

The Fully Fused team work to ensure that the best products are available in the displays they provide every year. The team has been involved in manufacturing fireworks and collectively have a wide knowledge of effects, techniques, and the quality of suppliers from around the world.

This year we’ve looked for some original effects to make our show stand out from the rest and hope that our Jubilee offering is well received. We thought we’d do something more original than firing red, white, and blue colours for our unique Jubilee sequence and we hope that you enjoy it!

We’re looking forward to returning to Plymouth and hopefully hearing the loud applause at the end of our show!

Thursday 18th August 21:30

Stevenage, Hertfordshire

SG17 5NX

Telephone: 01462 817640

Mobile: 07770 586268

Email: cliff@fullyfused.co.uk

www.fullyfused.co.uk

SONIC FIREWORKS

Sonic Fireworks, an award-winning family-run professional fireworks display operator, has amazed audiences with their high-octane dazzling displays for over 20 years. Based in Devon, this is their first time competing at The British Firework Championships in Plymouth although they have watched the event for many, many years. Sonic Fireworks works mainly across the South West of England providing everything from Wedding Displays to Large Public Displays. They also run a retail fireworks shop in Devon that serves the South West with a large range of DIY Consumer Fireworks and friendly expert advice.

Thursday 18th August 21:50

Uffculme, Devon EX15 3DA

Telephone: 01884 849222

Mobile: 07866 841343

Email:

office@sonicfireworks.co.uk

www.sonicfireworks.co.uk

WIZARD FIREWORKS

Wizard Fireworks Ltd are proud to be competing in this year’s British Firework Championships.

The Company is a family run business based in Kent and was established in 2013. We import direct from Spain and China and work closely with them to enable us to purchase some incredible fireworks.

Jordan and Hayden take such professionalism and creativity into producing unique firework displays for each individual client. All of this cannot be achieved without the help and dedication of Wizards’ firework crews.

All the team look forward to seeing everyone there and hope you enjoy our show and the entire event.

Thursday 18th August 22:10

Cranbrook, Kent TN17 2LP

Telephone: 01580 712678

Mobile: 07534 954508

Email: jordan@wizardfireworks.co.uk

www.wizardfireworks.co.uk