Belgium 2016

We finished off the year in Belgium where we took part in the illustrious Knokke-Heist International Fireworks Festival. This was a brand-new experience for Pyrotex as it was the first competition show that most of our crew had been on, it also caused Mark a logistical headache when planning and booking the firework deliveries, especially when you don’t have an address to give them apart from the beach?

On arrival in Knokke it was evident that the locals and tourists were ready for a good competition, the entire City was full of tension which added to the experience for the new crew. They settled in and after a few beers headed down to the beach front to watch the other competitor’s display.

The day after was prep day and the crew was split up into teams as the site was so large, it was approximately 140mtrs wide which after two days filled up with 13 single shot positions up to 8 plates deep, 11 special effect towers, and 5 shell positions. All the shells had to be buried in skips full of sand which was a task in itself and the mini sandstorms that whipped through the site along with the heat made for challenging conditions but the team battled through and pulled everything off.

After all the hard work it was time for everyone to watch the fruits of their labour and the show fired perfectly. Now I am constantly astounded by the scripts Mark and the crew pull off but Knokke-Heist it my favourite. The 20-minute-long show consisted of some well selected songs including a technical masterpiece set to Reet Petite .  Believe me it was breath-taking.

Once the closing show had finished, we nervously awaited the results, the anticipation and tension were at an all-time high, however, the PA system fired up and the results came in, after what seemed an age, they finally announced that Pyrotex were the winners clinching the coveted 1^st place prize. The team were all ecstatic, hugging each other and all clearly proud of themselves and quite rightly so!