Forte Dei Marmi Fireworks Festival

WHAT: FORTE DAI MARMI INTERNATIONAL FIREWORKS FESTIVAL 2016
WHY: INTERNATIONAL FIREWORK COMPETITION
WHEN: 4TH AND 18TH JUNE AND 9TH AND 23RD JULY 2016
WHERE: THE PIER, FORT DEI MARNI, NORTHERN ITALY
COST: FREE

2016 marks the second edition of this fantastic new competition event of 4 nights entertainment which also brings together, pyro-technists from across the world in order to compete for the trophy but more importantly, the accolade of firing for the Town’s church fiesta.

The teams from England and South Africa have already enjoyed the Italian hospitality when they each fired before huge crowds on the 4th and 18th June. At the moment, it would appear that they are giving little away as to the possible winner but following on from this weekend’s event the professional judges, from the world of arts and culture, will have sufficient information to make an informed choice.

First to fire were SMart Pyrotechnics from Salisbury in the UK. This team was established in 2007 by Steve Martin and Anthony Foti (Austrian) and they are firmly placed at the top of their game. SMart lifted the First place in the British Musical Firework Championships in Southport in 2015 and they won the Audience Vote from Southport in 2014 as well as being worthy winners of the 1st place in Courcheval in France.

Next up, 18th June, ‘Fireworks for Africa’ with their team of professionals began back in 1996 under the guidance of Nick Mitri. Once they had honed their skills in their domestic market, they have certainly made a name for themselves as worthy opponents as they have taken the rest of the world by storm. They picked up the spectators award at Ignis Brunensis (Brno - Czech Republic) followed by a very close second place at Herrenhausen (not bad for the first ever African competitors) and they also have taken part in competition in Da Nang, Macao and Hannover.

This weekend finds the last of the three teams competing; FLASH ART GROUP which was established in 1987 and their display team have performed shows in Germany and across Europe with some success. In addition to competing, they have fired displays for all manner of events from the opening and closing of the Cricket Super League in February this year and of course, the finale fireworks for the F1 race in Abu Dhabi in 2015.

The final day is the 23rd of July when the votes are counted and the awards firstly for the Audience Vote will be allocated and then the technical jury will announce their champion before the display from Pyrotechnics Morsani gets underway for the entertainment of the spectators.

The winners will be responsible for the fireworks on Sunday 28th August 2016 for the traditional Fiesta of the Patron of St Hermes (aka Festa di Sant’ Ermete) which takes place over 3 days at the latter end of August annually. They will light up the picturesque church with light and effects.

The Northern Tuscan seaside town in Versilia is most certainly the holiday/short break destination for wealthy VIPS and celebrities.

It is certainly going to be a hard-fought last round but we will bring you news of the outcome as soon as we can as usual.