Pyrovision's News Archive 2002

December 2002/January 2003
Tweenies Show Live Tour
Provided all pyrotechnics including labour and logistics for the live Tweenies Show on tour in London, Manchester and Birmingham. Theatrical flashes were used for the appearance of a member of the cast on stage and stage gerbs and streamers added to the party atmosphere.

December 2002
Olympia 2002 International Show Jumping Championship
Provided all the pyrotechnics for the entertainment sections of the championship. Photos from the show

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November 2002
Lord Mayor's Show
Pyrovision once again marked the end of London's annual Lord Mayor's Show with another spectacular display fired from barges moored on the Thames.

Photo shows the crew sailing through East London.

September 2002
Cai Guo-Qiang Gunpowder Event at the Royal Academy
Cai Guo-Qiang was born in 1957 in Quanzhou in China. He currently lives and works in New York. Over the last 5 years he has received international acclaim for his gunpowder art events that have been staged all over the world.
     For the opening of the Royal Academy's exhibition, The Galleries Show, Cai Guo-Qiang displayed a new gunpowder artwork called Money Net, which had been specially designed for the Royal Academy Courtyard. Money Net was produced by the artist in association with Pyrovision.

Bank of Scotland Fireworks Display
The last Saturday of the Edinburgh Festival is the day that 4 tonnes of fireworks are sent into the sky above the castle. The largest display set to music in Europe proved to be a real challenge this year, as the music chosen was very slow and moody. Pyrovision used a variety of Mines and Flares during 'Pictures at an Exhibition' by Musorgsky to enhance the beautiful setting of the castle and its grounds. To be able to follow the music we commissioned specifically 'quiet' fireworks that do not make a loud noise when lifting off and bursting, such as UFO, Jumping Cats and Silver Willow Shells. During the 29 minute display 30 mini waterfalls sent glittering silver sparkles down the castle walls, together with the large waterfall that cascades down the castle hill. The sombre mood of the music was reflected by coloured smoke shrouding the castle that was also backlit with red and green flares. The finale was set to the music of 'The Hut on Fowl's Legs' that moved into 'The Great Gate of Kiev'. We made use of the whole of the 375 metre frontage set on six levels using different calibre size shells to fill the night sky with long trails of gold flitter.

"and while the SCO produced the curtain-closer, the fireworks team threw every piece of pyrotechnic hardware they had left into the air in a wondrous display that brought goosebumps to the back of the neck" Drew McAdam, Edinburgh Evening News

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August 2002
MVO Award for Wilf Scott
One of the founders of Pyrovision, Mr Wilf Scott, was awarded an MVO - Member of Victorian Order by the Queen in her special honours list in August. Wilf was the brains behind the Jubilee fireworks display and was the man responsible for driving the necessary three tonnes of fireworks through the palace gates.
     Wilf has a long standing record as one of the most respected firework display designers in this country. As a director of Festival Fireworks he started to work for the Royal family when he was asked to design the Muscat Show for the Queen's visit to the Middle East. He was the pyrotechnician on the Pink Floyd and Rolling Stones tours as well as being responsible for the design of the fireworks at the Andre Previn Hyde Park Concert. He again created fireworks for the Queen for the 150th P & O Anniversary and the G7 summit at Buckingham Palace. He was then asked to design a display for the Queen's Ruby Wedding which was a private show for 8 guests.
     Together with his two other partners at Pyrovision, Keith Webb and Rod Clark, he was also responsible for the fireworks to celebrate VE Day including a roof top display at Buckingham Palace and Hyde Park. It was for all his outstanding work but especially for making her Golden Jubilee a triumph that the Queen presented him with this award.

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July 2002
Music of the Night, Plymouth
This spectacular, which featured music from the Bands of the Royal Artillery and Her Majesty's Royal Marines, was a fine example of combining fireworks and special effects. As part of the show was based around comic book superheroes and computer game characters, the show was a vibrant mix of entertainment and patriotic celebration. For the eye-catching opening of this show we not only had aerial maroons but also 180 red/white/blue streamer cartridges being fired from the front of the building's roof. By the second section the pace had dropped, so to enhance this very quiet piece of music we incorporated strobe flares to give the building a relaxing, pulsating feel, coupled with beautiful aerial fireworks such as silver palm trees, twirls and chrysanthemums. To end this part we fired Gridrockets from both sides of the stage, criss-crossing each other as they headed towards the roof of the building before setting off Titanium Flash Mines - their bright white silver stars rising up to 80 feet accompanied by a loud explosion of sound.
     As the next portion of the show required the take-off of an array of popular children's characters (Lara Croft played by a Royal Marine was very impressive!) we created flames explosions, machine gun simulation and also a rocket launcher - much to the entertainment of the younger members of the audience!
     The finale was the re-enactment of the Battle of Trafalgar. To enhance the battle scenes we used black powder effects, arena mines, fireballs, crackle effects and also trays with long and low burning flames. Red and yellow flares placed behind the building created the effect that we had set everything on fire. It then all ended with 2 minutes of fireworks set to music ending with 'Land of Hope and Glory'.

Fatboy Slim Party on Brighton Beach
In July Pyrovision was asked to provide the fireworks as a finale for this event for the 2nd year running. They had to work very closely with the Westpier Trust to ensure that the fireworks situated on the walkway to the derelict West Pier did not cause a safety hazard. With this in mind they created a stunning show that lasted approx. 4 minutes using multishot cakes, candles and mines. It was a very colourful display reflecting the party atmosphere of the evening with 250,000 people crowding into Brighton and onto its beach.

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June 2002
Queen's Golden Jubilee Celebrations
Pyrovision was very honoured to be asked to design and fire all fireworks and stage effects for the Queen's Golden Jubilee celebrations in central London.
 Read more and see photos of the main show

March 2002
Roger Waters World Tour
Providing the logistics for the Roger Waters "In The Flesh" World Tour 2002.

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