All the news from Pyrovision can be found on this page and in the archives. Be sure to also visit the fireworks & effects photo galleryto see photos of Pyrovision's displays.
January 2012 VisitScotland: Year Of Creative Scotland 2012 The latest VisitScotland TV advert includes our famous "waterfall" tumbling down the cliffs of Edinburgh Castle during the annual End of Festival fireworks show.
May 2011 Weddings - Private Parties - Celebrations - Upcoming displays The past couple of months have been quite busy for us with displays for different types of private celebrations in various locations and venues. These have varied in scale and budget from relatively small family parties to wedding celebrations in many different locations - some larger, some smaller. However we realise that no matter the budget these occasions are very important to our clients and the same attention to detail and the individual design of each display is also paramount to us.
Le Manoir Aux Quat' Saisons display A first for us was to stage a display at Raymond Blanc's two Michelin star Le Manoir Aux Quat' Saisons restaurant and hotel in Oxfordshire. This was a display set in the grounds as part of a weekend wedding celebration. The display was relatively short - circa 5 minutes but our brief was to produce an intense and spectacular display to enthral the evening guests, this was accomplished with a very carefully designed display whilst being very visual and busy it included many of the more unusual effects incorporated into pre programmed sequences, each being totally different but flowing smoothly into the next. The result was very rewarding with the client emailing us the next day to show his and his guests appreciation for a great show.
"Quiet" displays We have quite a busy summer ahead with many venues asking now for "Quiet" displays especially wedding venues which has resulted in our expanding our own range of material to accommodate these requests. "Quiet" displays are still very varied, colourful, mainly still aerial contrary to popular belief and with our careful individual design and planning result in an entertaining and visual display.
International Music Fireworks contest Sasebo, Japan Pyro Vision have been honoured to be invited to represent the UK in the forthcoming International Music Fireworks contest in Sasebo (Nagasaki) - Japan this summer, we understand we are the first UK company to be invited to this International event. This is a result of our most recent display at the Shanghai International festival where the organisers of this festival liked our design and interesting content. The displays are from different countries including representatives from the USA, Australia, Germany, Portugal and of course Japan and take place in July and August in the harbour area. The competition will be hard as all these countries have great firework companies with Japan famous of course for its very special & beautiful large handmade shells. None the less it is a privilege to be invited and we are very much looking forward to the experience.
Edinburgh Festival Display We are also already working (and have been for some months now) on this year's Edinburgh Festival Display - fired on the last night of this internationally famous festival. This display is believed to be the largest annual live music display in Europe and of course is fired from the stunning and unique setting of Edinburgh Castle.
P & O Adonia Naming Ceremony, Southampton Once again we were back in Southampton to provide both onboard effects during the naming ceremony and a large scale - barge based fireworks display in the evening. Dame Shirley Bassey was the Godmother for this latest superb addition to the P & O fleet of cruise liners. The ceremony was accompanied by large CO2 Confetti Blowers using silver Mylar confetti - a special type of reflective surfaced confetti, single shot Aero Cannons with streamers and various pyrotechnic effects. All were fired at the same time as the traditional bottle smash moment creating a very celebratory atmosphere on board. Later in the evening we fired a 10 minute barge based display choreographed to a medley of some of Dame Shirley Bassey's most well known songs including Goldfinger, Lets get this party started, Diamonds are forever and This is my life. A beautiful and visual display which was truly appreciated by all present.
The Royal Windsor Horse Show We were naturally very pleased to once again be asked to provide the display for this year's event. The display was staged on the last night of the week long Horse Show and Tattoo. The display was set up and fired from a position very close to Windsor Castle in the private grounds of the Great Park. The VIP's and audience viewed the display from the arena. Due to the proximity of both the castle & bearing in mind that the flight path for Heathrow was nearly overhead we were restricted on calibre sizes, also the audiences view was obstructed by the one of the grandstand seating areas! This resulted in very careful planning and design of the display to ensure that all present could view the display. The 10 minute display was choreographed to a varied selection of music befitting Royal Patronage.
April 2011 Truckfest, Peterborough Showground The display for this nationally well known annual event is always a challenge given the very restricted area available both for the firing site and the relative close proximity of the audience. By the very careful selection of material a very varied and visually entertaining display was achieved and the display was very well received. This is a good example of a great smaller scale display achieved within a tight budget but leaving everyone present on the day very entertained, a great opening to the festival.
November 2010 The Lord Mayor's Show, River Thames, London This year's show was very much multi-media, with the introduction of music, lighting, pre-display entertainment and, for the first time in its history, the firework display was fired to music. A mix of contemporary and well-known film sound tracks were used for this family orientated event.
October 2010 Queen Elizabeth Naming Ceremony, Southampton In the presence of HM the Queen Pyro Vision were pleased to provide instant, intense and colourful accompaniment. The traditional bottle smash was further highlighted by the use of 10 giant stadium streamer cannons fired in sequence, these were filled with large 20 metre long red, white and blue streamers which visually added to this historic occasion.
September 2010 Edinburgh The Scottish Chamber Orchestra and the composer, Clerk Rundell, were reunited for a classic American film score evening. The music was some of the most challenging we've had to work with but, with the help of new material and enhanced equipment, we achieved some of the most remarkable effects and sequences ever seen at Edinburgh Castle.
"The concert and display were absolutely brilliant and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive from colleagues and guests. Many have commented that the display was the best witnessed for years for choreography and effects." Bank of Scotland.
Queen Victoria Inaugural Visit to Liverpool Liverpool is the spiritual home of Cunard cruises. The event was attended by the Duchess of Cornwall and also marked the 170th Anniversary of Cunard's Britannia. The Queen Victoria is the second largest Cunard ship ever built.
June 2010 Seabourn Sojourn Naming Ceremony & Maiden Voyage Celebration, River Thames, London The latest addition to the Seabourn fleet of luxury yachts was launched to the public and press at Greenwich on the Thames. This was unique event as the display was fired to a live performance by Sirens who were playing on board. The show was fired to two of their most well-known tracks. The champagne release by Twiggy, the Godmother, was accompanied by streamer cannons. A second display was staged downstream for the Maiden Sailaway Voyage.
L'Oreal Awards, Grosvenor House Hotel, London At this very prestigious annual event we were tasked with providing 'dry ice' simulation over the 'T' shaped stage, not an easy task given the precise requirements and being requested not to include the guests tables which were very close by! By careful control of the simulators and customised ducting a great visual effect was achieved. We also finished the evening with a large single cue of Aero cannons filled with metallic streamers, carefully positioned so that we did not cover the very large and ornate chandeliers.
May 2010 Windsor Royal Tattoo
Classical Brits
April 2010 Azura Naming Ceremony, Southampton Docks A large barge based display. As Darcey Bussell was the Godmother for Azura, the music tracks were ballet themed. We also provided various on board effects including metallic streamers fired from Aero Cannons large bursts of Red, White & Blue Confetti fired from our Co2 blower units.
November 2009 St. Andrew's Day For the second year, we were invited to provide a traditionally themed display for this important National Day. The display opened with a recreation of the Scottish Saltire, which consumed hundreds of blue mines and single shot comets.
October 2009 Queen Mary II Inaugural Visit to Liverpool A short, sharp and very intense display fired from a barge on the Mersey. The display not only entertained the guests on board the QMII but also a large crowd which had gathered on the quayside around the Liver building and the Cunard HQ.
10th Shanghai International Music Fireworks Festival A celebration and gathering of world class artists, who are invited by invitation only, in Shanghai to present fireworks displays choreographed to music. It was also to mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Peoples Republic of China. The setting was Century Park in Pudong. The display was fired from 7 floating pontoons and 3 land-based sites. A core crew of 5 Pyrovision personnel were in Shanghai for 3 days to set up the display, helped by 30 local firework technicians. The choreographed display lasted for 30 minutes. Competitors came from China, UK, Italy, Switzerland. In view of the stiff local competition, including the Chinese company who staged the Beijing Olympics, we were delighted to be awarded 3rd place.
September 2009 Edinburgh End of Festival Fireworks Music for this year's event was a selection of Pyrovision's favourites - Zadok the Priest, La Rejoussance and Hallelujah. Advances in firing system technology enabled us to be more precise than ever, changing colour, tempo and effect, exactly mimicking the music. A team of 14 personnel worked for 8 days installing all the intricate and precisely placed firework elements to achieve the best reported choreographed show to date.
July 2009 Kingsbridge Fair Week In its 40th anniversary year, once again we were invited back to stage the annual display for Kingsbridge Fair Week, which is one of the largest annual displays in Devon. For the first time in its history, the display was choreographed to music. Various modern, upbeat tracks were used from The Prodigy and Kings of Leon.
Bleriot 100th Anniversary Celebrations - Dover The display was the finale to the day's event s celebrating Bleriot's historic flight across the English Channel. Musical tracks with an aeronautical theme were used to accompany the firworks. Enthusiastic comments were received for the Vera Lynn track "White Cliffs of Dover" as the cliffs were recreated by a 100m waterfall with blue bees shells representing the blue birds.
June 2009 Waterloo Ball, RAF Chicksands We were invited back once more to provide pyrotechnic and sound effects for the annual, hilarious re-enactment of the Waterloo Ball. This was staged in the Officers Mess - a Grade I listed building.
May 2009 Windsor Royal Tattoo Now in its third year, we were asked to provide special effects to recreate a Royal Commando rescue mission which involved the simulation of various battle fx and gunfire fx, culminating in the 'demolition' of the rebel base.
Truckfest A private event for exhibitors and competitors. Tracks included The 'A' Team, with various battle simulations and Britney Spiers.
February 2009 Brits Awards 2009 : Live TV - Earls Court To start the show we created a suitable 'ending' to Kylie's performance and 'dance routine' with James Corden & Matt Horne who were all this year's presenters. A very visual cue of Jets brought this tongue in cheek opening of a performance of 'Can't get You Out My Head' to an end - YouTube clip.
This year's live TV show was a somewhat different for us as we spent many days of planning and preparation for Take That's spectacular set which had no pyrotechnics but special effects on a large scale.
This involved creating the various effects for their appearance from the roof of Earls Court on the 'UFO', this was then slowly lowered to ground level whilst performing their No 1 hit 'Greatest Day', This was then slowly raised again with the band still on board back to the roof level.
The main effects were simulated CO2 'Jets' to create rocket motors for the descent and then towards the end of the song - the ascent. Coupled with this were further units to simulate 'Dry Ice' covering the platform and cascading over the edge of the circular standing platform The effects were used on cues to further enhance a very different and visual part of the show.
The end result looked - although we say it ourselves truly stunning and after many days of planning and rehearsals - the machines and equipment were quite complex, we were more than pleased with the result! - YouTube clip.
