Belvoir Castle Fireworks Results 2015

This last weekend saw the 6th running of the Firework Champions event at Belvoir Castle where each of the three competing teams battled it out in the skies over the stunning grounds.

Team 1 – Gala Fireworks

The first track - The Power of Love – Jennifer Rush - A nice opening to the competition from the Gala team who started with a beautifully symmetrical show which was a brilliant interpretation of the music to the fireworks.

Track 2 – Bang Bang – Jessie J – Upping the pace a little with this upbeat track there were some lovely silver crackling comet tails and huge shells and the track ended with a massive red centred glittering petal effect (looks like a huge daisy) a great mixture of colour and noise.

Track 3 – Uptown Funk – Mark Ronson (quell surprise!) – A re-appearance of the red tipped gold tailed comets which were lovely and their stunningly bright colours (the orange was absolutely gorgeous). Well paced with the music and some lovely effects. Great section.

Track 4 – Lacrimosa Dominae (Tearful Lady) musical piece which was AWESOME. Very emotive and absolutely perfect for a summers evening display in such a beautiful setting – the timing is spot on with the timing and the fanned pieces at the end were particularly lovely.

Track 5 – Time to Say Goodbye – Andrea Bochelli and Sarah Brightman – The groundworks on this portion were outstanding with some lovely bright reds. Timing was good and the ring bursts and falling horse tails were tremendous. A magical mixture of pyrotechnic excellence which was well received by the spectators and the finale was a lovely willow effect falling gracefully to the ground.

Team 2 – F1 Pyro

Track 1 - Red Warrior – Audio Machine – emotive music and great interpretation with the fireworks. The strobing glitter shells were the standout pieces – just lovely.

Track 2 – Jailhouse Rock – Elvis Presley – Not a track I would have chosen personally as a little too fast paced and the cadence changes throughout but kudos for using something off the usual list! Sadly, they suffered some set backs with technical issues at the beginning causing a long period of dark sky but they got over it and carried on in earnest until another couple of minutes in when it all went lala’s up again! The music seemed to have a mind of its own when it got faster and faster.

Track 3 – Sky full of Stars – Coldplay – another long delay before the firing started properly and the spectators sadly, were aware from the comments made. Again, never known to give up without a fight, they got on top of the issues and the effects were simply beautiful. The orange/gold horsetails (of which I am not usually a fan) were sublime as were the huge tipped palm break shells.

Track 4 – Bohemian Rhapsody – Queen – better transitions between tracks and no dark sky. Again, I was really impressed by the clarity of the colours which were incredible bright and the effects really loud too. I was particularly fond of the reds, oranges and golds on offer. There appeared to be a small discrepancy between the timings but some astonishing Hanwarimono double break shells and the blues and pinks were lovely.

Track 5 - For the Win – Two Steps from Hell – a lovely transition to between tracks and all running effectively and the strobing pink shells and titanium stars were lush. The pyro built and built to the finale with bright glittering stars and some spectacular fanned ground pieces till the sky filled with golden falling willows.

Team 3 – PDC Fireworks

Track 1 – Fantastic – Bruce Healey – from the first beat, the crowds knew they were in for a real treat as this perfectly timed display got underway. The shells were massive with silver and red glittering tips and some seriously good strobing ground works. Simply lovely section.

Track 2 – It’s a Sin – The Pet Shop Boys – lovely groundwork effects to kick off this section using an 80’s classic track which was on point all the way through. The multi coloured sweeping barrages were very nice indeed.

Track 3 – Palladio – Escala – Brilliant musical interpretation and the rise and fall of the track lends itself absolutely perfectly to fireworks. The green tipped crossed slices were super bright and it was altogether a busier display with less of the big shells and more groundworks. The shells they did have were MASSIVE and some with triple effects were truly gorgeous. Very very good.

Track 4 – Disney’s Reflections of the Earth – Gavin Greenaway – This theme tune from Disney’s ‘illuminations’ was very symmetrical and some beautiful red gold and green horsetails. The fanned ground pieces were very precise and the glittering centres of the shells were lovely.

The run over after the music was a little odd but a brilliant display nevertheless.

Whilst the votes were cast and counted, the finale was offered up by event organisers MLE Pyrotechnics and of course was absolutely beautiful.

From the first few bars of the first track, ‘We are here – The White Noise’ you were left feeling this was going to be pretty special. The crossing slices, with the huge shell burst in the middle, were just awesome and it just built from there. The sky was lit up with huge effects to the absolute delight of the crowd. The other tracks used were Afterglow by Wilkinson and Run by the lovely Leona Lewis which took us from fast and upbeat to a slower and much more emotionally charged display.

The whole show was faultless and mesmerizing throughout and the last couple of minutes just staggeringly good and built to the final Kaboom beautifully. The impressive spread across the sky was nothing short of magnificent and a perfect ending to one of the UK’s finest pyrotechnic events.

Once the last of the votes were calculated, the winners were announced:

WELL DONE TEAM PDC FIREWORKS :)

The next Firework Champions event is the penultimate one for the 2015 season and is to be held at the beautiful Capesthorne Hall nr Macclesfield. Teams competing will be Spyrotechnics of Chesterfield, Skydazzle of Newport and Optimum Fireworks of Bradford who will be joined in the finale once again by the inimitable MLE.