British Firework Championships Results

PLYMOUTH - BRITISH FIREWORK CHAMPIONSHIPS 2016 – DAY 1

Tuesday 16th August saw the opening of the British Firework Championships get under way in the clear skies over the Plymouth Hoe on a beautiful evening.

This is the 20th edition of the event and the boys are definitely all going hell for leather for the win.

First up to show their skills; SMArt Pyrotechnics - Salisbury

Their opening sequence was really pretty and there were some huge breaks. A beautiful display full of colour and effect with no apparent ‘hoohah’s’ and a very good finale but some odd shots after the display had ended. Good show SMArt.

Second to step up to the plate: Phoenix Fireworks – Sevenoaks

The titanium salutes at the beginning were incredibly loud and bright. The wide mixture of effects was a little haphazard for my taste as I tend to prefer symmetry but some of their really bright coloured horsetails were sublime. There was a definite pregnant pause at around the halfway mark which may simply have been a transition between sets and there were a couple of rogue pieces like a gold in the midst of a red section and then a single green in the mix for a gold section but overall, good job.

Last firework display on day 1 of the Championships: F1 Pyro

Very clean opening with some enormous shells and a great selection of colour and effects. The angles were good and the blue sweeping section was spot on and the hang time on a willow just over halfway through was absolutely awesome.

F1 were the best on the night in my opinion but they all had smoke issues on some level and the right hand side was difficult to see as a result but in fairness, all three displays were absolutely amazing.

Sadly, whilst the first night escaped the curse of the British Firework Champs weather (ahhh yes, the winds of 2012) the second is looking to be a bit of a shocker as the forecaster shows that they are expecting high winds and heavy rain after 7.00pm.

Fingers crossed that they are able to carry on.

PLYMOUTH - BRITISH FIREWORK CHAMPIONSHIPS 2016 – DAY 2

Day two of the BFC at Plymouth Hoe did well to manage to get under way last night as the threat of bad weather was ever-present; as high winds and torrential rain were expected but, the pyro gods must have been smiling on the teams as they all managed to put on a show.

First up; Aurora Fireworks - Wisborough Green, West Sussex

A quality selection of goods although a little too much red for my taste but really pretty nonetheless. I would add that the heights attained were very well matched resulting in a very precise display. The finale was super bright – good effort from team Aurora.

Next up; Distant Thunder Fireworks – Devizes, Wiltshire

This was my personal favourite as there were lots of really good colour combinations. Whilst the finale was a little lacklustre appearing to have experienced some technical difficulties as both sides had different effects going off but a beautiful display nonetheless.

Final team: Gala Fireworks – Northampton

The sweeping single shot work was precision personified and there were some lovely cube shells. Lots of variety and some massive breaks. The finale was awesome and the titanium flashes in the final run were just the icing on the cake.

After two nights of hard-fought competition, the winners were announced:

GALA FIREWORKS – WARMEST CONGRATULATIONS