Onwards and Upwards

After the highs and lows of Bournemouth it was back to business as usual for FF last night. We were in Torbay for the annual Royal Regatta display and we really rocked the English Riviera. Tens of thousands packed the promenades for the 15-minute spectacular which was designed by David Willsher and fired off Corbyn Head. Paul Roberts and Tony Smith led the Fantastic Fireworks team who excelled themselves in a display which was hailed by the organisers as 'the best ever'. We were displaying some of our new effects for the first time including a stunning tambourine shell which burst in a beatiful expanding disc of white flitter broken by four 'bells' of crackling colour. Yacht Club secretary Debbie Selley said: 'That was absolutely amazing. You were brilliant. See you  next year.'

Fast and furious

Sat 22nd August 09, 3.53pm - Updated
So that's what 110,000 rockets look like when they're launched in 6.5 seconds. OK it wasn't what we planned and we can understand a lot of people were disappointed. We apologise to everyone who came to Bournemouth expecting to see something far more spectacular, and longer-lasting. It was originally planned to do the launch in 60 seconds but then Guinness World Records told us they would only recognise it if it beat our previous world record of 56,000 in 30 seconds. Unfortunately by the time we heard that, the Bournemouth publicity was already advertising 60seconds. However even we were astonished at how fast they all went up. Some of it was down to the high wind speed which fanned the flames of the fuses. But mostly it was down to ensuring that with the threat of a wet and windy evening out at sea on barge, we got everything airborne as quicky as possible. That it was far too quick is now plain but we were just asked to break a world record and that's what we attempted to do. The barge didn't catch fire, no one was hurt and thousands of pounds were raised for charity. We've been widely criticised for not making it more entertaining and with the benefit of hindsight perhaps we should have added all sorts of different colourful effects. But the entertainment was the firework display which came before. We are delighted to have helped the Help for Heroes charity raise so much money and without this attempt and the efforts of of our own volunteers, they would be the poorer today. I have now asked Bournemouth Council if they will let us come back next year, we'll do it for free and we'll get it right.

My thanks to freelance photographer Donna Nicholson for sending us the photo shown here. For all the flak we've taken from our legions of followers, at least Donna and her family enjoyed what they saw. She wrote: 'Thanks, my kids loved it. Well done - have the above photo copy right free.' Thanks Donna and to everyone else who has joined in the debate, even Anonymous. We know who you are.

Smoke & Mirrors at Corfe Castle

Tues 4th Aug 09, 21.19pm
The last time Corfe Castle reverberated to the sound of explosions was in 1646, when Oliver Cromwell tried to raze it to the ground. He was only partially successful, so now it was Fantastic Fireworks’ turn ! With one major difference – under no circumstances was the national monument to be damaged or marked in any way.

The occasion was a book launch by The Friends of Bucknowle, an archaeological group which had been excavating a nearby Roman villa. Ali Robertson’s display design took full advantage of the imposing structure, with flares, strobes, barrages and aerial shells firing from every corner. Great stuff. But to achieve the required effects, the FF firing crew had to haul and manhandle heavy equipment and pyro up rocky paths to the top of the 100ft tor, and then again up to the castle battlements !

Firing against a fading sunset, the display (which was visible from as far away as Swanage and Poole) was spectacular. With smoke and light pouring from the castle and the sound of shells and mortars echoing around the walls and from nearby hills, the overall effect resembled nothing so much as a castle under siege. Happily, when the smoke cleared, the National Trust inspected the site and were delighted to report that the ancient building was not only unharmed but completely unmarked.

Beat that, Cromwell !

Our thanks to Dick Budgen for firing the show and posting this blog.