Hannover 2017

Pyrotex finished off our international competitions in August where we took part in the Hannover International Fireworks Competition pitched up against 7 teams from around the world. Upon arriving in the capital it was evident the tourists and locals alike were ready for a good competition and the atmosphere was electric.

Hannover was an interesting experience for the crew as the site was set in the Herrenhausen Gardens which was beautiful, however it was made very difficult as we were not allowed to set up any fireworks on the grass areas which caused us a few headaches especially when the heavens opened and the pathways turned into small waterways so the crew had to act fast and move the product to higher areas and waterproof everything.

The crew spent a total of 2 long days on site working up to 16 hours a day to set the display up which consisted of 11 single shot plates that were up to 8 plates deep, 11 special effect towers, 9 cake/slice positions and 3 shell positions for the 18 minute spectacular. Finally, after all the hard work the show fired perfectly, and was a huge success, the crew congratulated each other for all the effort shared to bring together another masterpiece, and rightly so.

Once the show had fired, they had to then de-rig which seemed to take them forever as they had to dismantle everything and pack the vans back up due to the gardens being open to the public the following morning. I think the straw that broke the camel’s back was the de rig of all 88 single shot pods, safe to say the team were glad once de rig was over as they finally finished at 5am the next morning!! Once back at the hotel they all slumped off to the rooms to shower and grab some well-deserved rest, before heading back to UK soil.

A week after the show it was the final competition display so Mark jetted back over to Hannover for the results. Unfortunately we came in 3rd place, so all the team were disappointed due to all the hard work that was put into the show but nevertheless it’s another competition under the belt and invaluable experience gained for all involved.