Hanwha Corporation did a third appearance in the Montreal International Firework Competition on July 5th, with a 30-minute pyromusical show titled "Shall We Dance?". One of the most striking feature of that show was the huge number of cakes (about 400) which shot a wide range of pyrotechnic effects : stars, candles, screaming whistles, small bombettes, and more. Thanks to appropriate wind, the audience was not disturbed by the smoke usually produced by this kind of devices. Enjoy here a sample of these cakes, as well as the kamuro-theme finale.
Though Hanwha Corporation is not a new entrant to the event (the firm presented extravaganzas in 1989 and 1994), it brought fresh blood into the world largest firework competition : the director Mr. Cheol-Woong Lee and the designer Ms. Soo-Won Uhm were not in charge of the previous shows. "It is a first time for us. We came here last year to visit the site, in order to use all the available space" said Lee to PyroPlanet, a couple of minutes following his performance.
Choice of colours was well-ordered throughout the show, providing coherence to each of the 13 segments. Some of them were designed with a single colour, like the kamuro finale. Other parts included a well-defined number of colours, like the enjoyable ABBA's Dancing Queen segment, made of spectacular sequences of red, blue and green meteor-headed comets, mines, crossing z-cakes of stars and shells of stars.
Transport is a major issue for pyrotechnic industry these days and the South Korean team has to take up a particular challenge since they were unable to ship their container on time. Fortunately, the Montreal-based Ampleman was able to supply a large part of the stuff needed, but the designer Uhm had to do some last-minute changes. Nothing of this behind-the-scene problem was noticeable during the display. However, it was obvious that minor technical problems prevented the ignition of some pieces during the very rhythmical Can-can and caused a short black-out on Carmen.
Perfect summer weather brought a large audience at La Ronde amusement park. A new and agressive marketing tactic filled the grandstands : people inside the park might purchase tickets at various kiosks dispatched on the midway for only 5$, a great deal for season pass holders, for instance. The result is a dramatic contrast with the declining audience sat in the grandstands we have observed in previous years.
According to many loyal viewers, Hanwha has performed the best show since the beginning of the 2008 competition. However, an impressive line-up of six contestants is ahead and some of them are very anticipated by enthusiasts. The buzz already states that the next, designed by Grupo Luso Pirotecnia, would be one of the largest (and maybe the largest) display ever seen in the Montreal competition history.
One part of the South Korean setup, here on La Ronde second firing ramp. In addition to 400 cakes, Hanwha's arsenal also included 1200 mines and comets, and 2600 shells, all fired with PyroDigital following more than 2200 cues.
The six members of the South Korean crew and the Consul stood to their national anthem.
Overlapping dense fans of comets appeared during a quiet segment with Korean Bang-Ean Yang's music.
The audience applauded as this two-segment waterfall came into life. Rather than the usual ignition by both ends, that waterfall was lit on at various points along the line, a more effective way to get instantaneously a full effect.
On the music of Bizet's Carmen, the penultimate segment was a faux finale, coming to a close with a pattern of crossing electric comets and large shells above.
With the imposing Tchaikovsky's 1812, the all kamuro-theme finale ended with a dramatic barrage of mines right behind the audience.
Inside the Salon des artificiers, Hanwha Corporation and La Ronde pyrotechnic teams stood for an ultimate picture.
For a comprehensive report, more photos, a full video and discussions, please visit Paul Marriott's website, montreal-fireworks.com.
The soundtrack of each firework display is broadcast live on local radio station 105,7 FM. To listen the music on the web, click here and select "Radio en direct" on firework nights at 10:00pm Eastern Time.
Text, photos and video: Frédérick Bastien
