FIREWORKS. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS.

Over the years, we have had many questions asked of us – some a little ‘out there’ but many are regularly asked so I have listed as many as we can think of:

Q. How long do fireworks keep?
A. Provided that they are kept cool and dry, they will last for a very long time.

Q. How do they make whistling fireworks?
A. This comes down to construction and a special mixture of chemicals. Check out the full explanation on our blog on this very subject.

Q. Do I need a special license to light fireworks?
A. Provided that they are either 1.4G or 1.3G classification (and are classified as consumer fireworks) no specialist licence is required.

Q. Where should I store fireworks?
A. Somewhere cool, dry and out of the reach of children and pets. Kiddies are naturally inquisitive (as are some pets) so keep these things where neither can inadvertently get hold of them.

Q. What should I do if it’s raining and I have a display to put on?
A. This is a popular question, particularly in the UK where we light over 75% of our fireworks for Bonfire Night. Get yourself some of the really inexpensive swing bin liners – the white almost transparent ones are best (pedal bin liners for smaller barrages) and seal them up – mark where the fuse is and your goodies will stay dry – because they are thin, our powerful barrages can very easily burst through the thin plastic bag.

Q. What makes the colours in fireworks?
A. They are made from adding chemicals including metals, salts and other elements during the production of ‘stars’. Check out the blog about colours in fireworks for full details.

Q. Can I take fireworks on a plane?
A. The short answer is NO. Fireworks are classed as explosives so naturally are not permitted on aeroplanes under any circumstances. Furthermore, they are restricted for transport on some ferries and roads which pass through tunnels too so if in doubt – check.

Q. When can I set off fireworks?
A. Here in the UK we are very fortunate as we are allowed to light fireworks ANY day of the year provided it is after 7.00am and before 11.00pm. The exceptions are till midnight on Bonfire Night and until 1.00am on NYE, Chinese New Year and Diwali.

Q. Do I have to let any of the authorities know if I am having a Firework party?
A. This would only be necessary if there are likely to be substantial numbers of people attending (ie over 200) you should contact your local authority about crowd control etc and if you are near the sea, contact the coastguard as a courtesy so that they can offer advice but other than these exceptions, it would not be necessary.

Q. How do I protect my pets?
A. We at Epic are all animal lovers so we have collated a great deal of information about how to best protect your dogs, cats and small animals from firework noise.

Q. Do you deliver?
A. Yes, to anywhere in the UK mainland. Sadly, because of transport restrictions, this does not include the Channel Isles, Isle of Wight, Shetlands or Isle of Man. If however you are happy to make your own arrangements for forward transportation (at your own cost) we would be only too happy to deliver to a third-party courier to do this for you.

Q. Can you deliver to the United States?
A. If I had a quid for every time this one was asked I would be incredibly wealthy. Sadly, whilst we are allowed bigger and louder fireworks that the US, they can only be transported by the container load so unfortunately, NO.

Q. Where do fireworks come from?
A. The UK manufactured the vast majority of the brands sold from the late 19th century until the late eighties/nineties when the last of the manufacturing (standard) was transferred over to China.

A number of the UK companies today will say that their goods were ‘designed’ here. This is true of most of the fireworks on sale today as all retailers who have own branded goods manufactured for them, choose the colours, effects and duration and the label artwork is largely done over here in the UK. This does not make it ‘British’ as some would have you think. I would add though that we spend 3 weeks in China in January choosing the right colours and effects – return for 2 weeks in March to see the first run and then again for 3 weeks in early July to ensure consistency of quality and check them randomly (we select which ones we want them to light!) before they are packed into containers for transportation.

Q. Why is delivery so expensive?
A. As fireworks are classed as explosives, they can only be transported by specially licensed couriers. This means effectively that we have maybe a handful of couriers who are able to deliver our goods. At this time, the delivery charge applies to ALL deliveries which cost less than £295.00 inc VAT.

Q. Are the DIY display packs easy to follow?
A. Yes – we go to every length to ensure that your event goes off without any difficulty and each of the packs is supplied with safety lighters, goggles and set up/safety instruction. If you need further reassurance, just get in touch and chat with one of our pyro-technicians.

Now, the list of course is exhaustive and I have tried to list those that are the most asked but if you have a question (and there is no such thing as a daft one!), please get in touch and one of us will be able to provide an answer or at least send you off in the right direction.