Day One At The British Fireworks Championships

Last night saw the British Firework Championships get under way on Plymouth’s Waterfront as the first three teams took to the skies in perfect conditions on a beautifully balmy evening.

Phoenix Fireworks 9.30pm

Highly experienced Phoenix Fireworks hail from Sevenoaks and are one of the top pro firing teams in the UK and hold some of the biggest accolades in the industry.

They got underway and there appeared to be something amiss from the outset as random slices appeared to fire out-of-order and the structure of the display, which has always been ‘on point’ for previous examples of their work was definitely out of kilter. A couple of minutes in, we had some major dark sky which pretty much confirmed the technical issues they were experiencing. An awful shame – particularly given the amount of work which goes into creating competitive displays but they battled on and the quality of their pyro and the bursts on their shells were just awesome. I especially liked the cross over slices with the smiley faces and the gold to silver horse tails were just beautiful. Some of the fast firing ground work was particularly lovely.

A great showing (apart from the tech issues) and the finale was absolutely AMAZING.

Spyrotechnics 9.50 pm

Next up, the professional team from Spyrotechnics of Chesterfield – this team are no strangers to the silverware either with wins at several of the Firework Champions events.

Great opening and the early blue centred super shells were wonderful. All very symmetrical and rich and varied colours and nice effects and they had some glittering strobing horse tails which were just lovely and held the air for an age.

Make sure you check out the finale video below - filmed in 4K.

On point from the first burst. A most enjoyable display which will certainly take some beating. The huge glowing orbs at around 7 minutes in were incredible – like massive bright Chinese lanterns gracefully rising into the night sky and the jellyfish were amazing. The finale – what can I say that the crowds didn't – OMG it was, to coin a phrase like a bombing raid – Great job well done Spyrotechnics.

Essex Pyrotechnics 10.10pm

Last up on day 1 were the team from Essex Pyrotechnics who hail from Newport in Essex. This team has been thrilling audiences for over 25 years with their innovative displays and their own pyrotechnic expertise.

Nicely paced throughout with some lovely (if a little off centre?) shell breaks but one burst at around 3 minutes burst incredibly low (brown pants time!). The groundwork was really good with some great colour combinations.

The space ships and falling glitter were awesome and brought forth a number of oohs and aahs from onlookers along with the sublime sweeping fans.

The finale brought forth some lovely shells with super-bright flashes and a lovely close to a wonderful evening of pyrotechnics in this lovely setting.

Tonight sees Fantastic Fireworks, Gala Fireworks and Galaxy Fireworks take to the stage. If you are in the area, get along to the Hoe for a beautiful evening of entertainment for all the family.