Epic Fireworks Blog

WHAT: Cannes International Fireworks Festival 2013
WHERE: City of Cannes, France
VENUE: Bay of Cannes
WHEN: March 2013, July 2013 and August 2013

The Cannes Firework Festival (also known as the Festival d’Art Pyrotechnique) is an annual fireworks competition which originally started in 1967.

The competition is held in the Bay of Cannes and consists of several different countries competing to win the firework competition.

The fireworks are lit from three barges anchored in the sea. The barges are around 350 metres from the shore and approximately 180 metres apart.

Each country chooses a theme and presents a 25 minute show which is synchronised to music.

The competition is judged and the winners of the competition are awarded with the Vestale d’argent. The judges make their decision on the theme, how well it is synchronised, originality, sound track, colours, set-up, flow of the fireworks, and the general feel of the show.

The schedule of events are as follows:

Portugal – Team Luso Pyrotecnia – Wednesday 6th March 2013 10.00pm

Azerbaidjan – Team Baku Fireworks Group – Thursday 4th July 2013 10.00pm

Italy – Team Vaccalluzzo Pyrotecnia – Sunday 14th July 2013 10.00pm

Italy – Team Vaccalluzzo Pyrotecnia – Sunday 21st July 2013 10.00pm

France – Team EFC Evenement – Monday 29th July 2013 10.00pm

Hong-Kong, China – Team Pyro Magic – Wednesday 7th August 2013 10.00pm

France – Team J Couturier Org – Saturday 24th August 2013 10.00pm

The event attracts up to 200,000 spectators every year. Therefore, there is competition for the best viewing points. We advise that you leave in good time to get a good viewing point.

Please see the map below for details of the best viewing points available. Further details can be found here.

This little firing board above is designed to be a basic firing device for consumer fireworks. It allows the user to fire the fireworks remotely, thereby mitigating the risk of possible injury.

You can use it from a few feet away to 75 feet away, but remember, if you use it at a range less than the recommended safety distance the user must retire to a safe place.

Lets start at the clips. The clips are based on the original patented launch kontrol clips, but have been updated, they require less power to fire, and are more reliable than any non PCB based copy.

The guys at Launch Kontrol have added a fixed hinge for strength, furthermore they have decided to make the cable re-usable year after year. The connections are all gold-plated so the risk of corrosion has been massively reduced.

All you have to do is simply clip them onto the visco safety fuse. The extension cable which will set the range is based on a standard CAT5 off the shelf product but not suitable for copper coated aluminium or steel.

This provides 4 cues per board. The board has an arm button and 4 firing channels. Each board has an extension port to link an unlimited number of boards together. The cues and boards can be fired in any order.

Any board with a 9v battery can act as a master board or power re-enforcement by adding more batteries to fire simultaneous multiple cues.

All the units have been tested and the boards fired while submerged in water without any adverse effect.

Each starter box comes with 4 Pulse clips, link cable, 2m igniter connection cable with 4 connectors which plug into the top of the clip and a Cat 5 connector to extend the range.

Once the fireworks display has ended, you just clean the cables, remove the battery and store them for next time.

The only thing to be thrown away are the clips and the used fireworks.

We are still waiting for the prices to be confirmed. In the meantime what do you think? Would you buy one?

More pictures below.

OK firework lovers, check out this awesome firework video and pictures below from the Malta International Fireworks Festival 2013.

The long-awaited video also contains the ‘ground zero footage’ inserted into the main display footage – it’s a steady start but then it goes MENTAL.

This year the display used the PyroSure firing system – and we reckon it’s probably the BEST firing system in the world.

We gotta hand it to you Mr Mike Knox – You are THE MAN

A big THANK YOU to David Carter, Joseph Friggeri and Nicholas Chase for the amazing firework pictures and video footage.