Alchemy Fireworks

blog - sharing magic

Sizzling Summer Shows

The stage looks small against the backdrop of a Fireworks display at Leeds Castle Classical Concert

Although it’s summer, the past few weeks have been very busy here at Alchemy Fireworks. We’ve been providing many wedding firework displays up and down the country, firing displays on the Thames (twice!!), producing another jaw dropping fireworks display for the RHS Hampton Court Flower Show Gala Preview Evening and just last Saturday producing a masterpiece fired to classical music at the Leeds Castle Classical Concert. All of these shows were for repeat clients. We are delighted that we get rebooked time and time again. We go to great lengths to make sure that we provide an excellent service combined with amazing value for money and that’s what keeps clients coming back year after year.  Many people think that fireworks are just for Bonfire Night and New Years Eve. But we provide fireworks displays for weddings, anniversaries, corporate events and outdoor concerts. A summer firework display will often mean a long day for the crew. Because the sun doesn’t set until much later it’s not usually dark enough to fire a display until around 2245hrs. By the time we have fired the firework display, given the site a good clean up and driven back to HQ, sometimes we don’t arrive home until gone 2am! But summer shows do (usually!) provide the luxury of setting up in the warm sunshine rather than the cold and damp of October/November. So it’s not all bad.   Here are a few of images of our recent adventures;

 

Happy Birthday!

 

We were recently asked to provide a spectacular short, sharp fireworks display for a clients’ 30th Birthday party celebrations. The display was choreographed to just one track. Coldplay’s ‘Sky Full of Stars’ edited down to 3 minutes. It also included a piece of lancework depicting ’30’ (which we didn’t catch on the camera!). Taking place at Down Hall in Hertfordshire the weather was fine and dry and just perfect for fireworks. The party guests were treated to a jaw-dropping display of fireworks expertly synchronised and dancing to the music.

We get asked a lot to provide a professional fireworks display for birthday parties. 18th birthday fireworks and 21st birthday fireworks are very popular! You can celebrate with a magnificent fireworks display at any age! Birthdays are just one celebration where fireworks are a great addition to a party. Wedding fireworks and anniversary fireworks, firework displays to mark historical celebrations such as VE Day. Even Valentines proposal fireworks and fireworks containing loved ones ashes. A professional fireworks display is the talk of the night at every event. Alchemy Fireworks are number 1 when it comes to fireworks choreographed to music

 

Green & Blue fireworks by Alchemy Fireworks in Christchurch Park Ipswich for the scouts annual fireworks event

Pride of the fleet!

Shiny new Alchemy Fireworks van for professional fireworks displaysShiny new Alchemy Fireworks van for professional fireworks displaysShiny new Alchemy Fireworks van for professional fireworks displaysShiny new Alchemy Fireworks van for professional fireworks displays

Alchemy Fireworks recently took delivery of its brand new van from Gates Ford in Stevenage. It’s finished in a gorgeous dark blue and with some slight changes to the colouring of our logo it really stands out in the crowd! It’s already been put to very good use. We have been travelling up and down the country on fireworks displays and collecting material. Fitted with sat nav, bluetooth and cruise control the long hours in the van are an absolute dream! The new van for Alchemy Fireworks is even fitted with a 240V socket so we can keep the firing system fully charged and ready for action! Give us a toot of your horn if you see us out and about!

Surprise, Surprise!

We were back at Leeds Castle on Friday for a surprise wedding fireworks display for a lovely couple. We had been speaking with the bride Sarah since early 2017 to arrange this bespoke display to music for her fireworks loving, husband-to-be, Colin. Between Sarah, ourselves and the Leeds Castle staff we managed to keep the display a secret until the first fireworks were ignited. To say that they were over the moon with the results would be an understatement! See the feedback below;

It’s not everyday that you’ll book a fireworks display for your wedding. We’re here to help you thought it. We’ll cut through the jargon and help you make the right decisions when it comes to booking a wedding fireworks display.

We can incorporate your wedding colours in a sequence of beautiful fireworks during the display. Choreography to music is a speciality of ours. It really adds to the wow-factor and makes the fireworks display far more personal to you. We’ll guide you through the process of choosing the music for your choreographed wedding fireworks and tell you what works and what doesn’t. We will then put together an expertly mixed version of the music for you to hear and sign off well in advance of the display. Our prices quoted will include a dedicated PA system for the playback of your chosen music.

And if its a surprise wedding fireworks display for your other half to be – well, you can see by the feedback below that we’re experts in that field too!

 

 

Surprise wedding fireworks feedback

 

Alchemy Firers meal

Alchemy fireworks firers on a night out

10 of our lovely crew were due to have their BPA training updated last weekend. It was the perfect opportunity to get everyone together for annual Alchemy firers meal and to recollect the stories of last November!  It was a rare night off from firing professional fireworks displays up and down the country! They were all treated to a sit down meal and drinks at the lovely Crown Hotel and Bar in Henlow, Bedfordshire. Guys from as far afield as Plymouth, Newcastle, Oxford, Brighton and Hampshire made the journey to join us on this years Alchemy firers meal. We just hope that it didn’t impede on their Sunday session training course!

 

Happy New Year!

We’ve been a little quiet here of late but we’ve not been resting on our laurels – nothing could be further from the truth! We had a monumentally busy November Bonfire Night season with our wonderful crews providing jaw-dropping displays up and down the country. One of which was the annual Scouts Fireworks Spectacular in Christchurch Park, Ipswich. Our intrepid firer (and amazing photographer!) Dee Cannavan was on hand once again to catch these amazing images;

Without time to take a deep breath we went straight from Guy Fawkes celebrations into Christmas Lights switch on events providing not just pyrotechnics and fireworks but also falling snow and spaceflower lighting effects! As you can see below, these can really add to your event so do get in touch if you’re interested and we can provide you with a very competitive quote;

And so we find ourselves in January! A time for reflection and rest – or so you may think! The quieter winter months are a time for making new hardware and fixing broken hardware that suffers from the rigours of the display site! It’s also time for thinking about how we can streamline processes to make our lives here a little easier to enable us to provide you with even more spectacular displays (is that even possible?!) We’re also out on the road meeting existing clients to talk about their 2019 displays and also to meet new clients wishing to also have some of the Alchemy Magic at their next event. One of our New Year’s resolutions though it to check in here more often with more exciting news and behind the scenes action. We wish all out customers past, present and future a very Happy New Year!

Wedding Fireworks to music

Wedding fireworks to music is our speciality. We were delighted to be back at the iconic and stunning location of Leeds Castle to fire a beautifully choreographed wedding fireworks display. We created the perfect mix of music for Sofia and Thomas based on their suggestions. Using the wireless capabilities of our state-of-the-art firing system FireOne and our own PA system we fired a magical display for the happy couple. If you’d like to know more about our wedding fireworks to music packages and prices check out our dedicated wedding fireworks website – Alchemy Wedding Fireworks

Magical Maritime in Ipswich

Golden Fireworks exploding over the marina for Ipswich Maritime Festival fireworks display

Alchemy Fireworks were delighted to once again provide the explosive entertainment for the Ipswich Maritime Festival. As part of this year’s celebrations we were asked to provide a short display of daylight fireworks consisting of noise effects such as screechers, whistles and reports and clouds of coloured smoke. We sourced some amazing new coloured smoke shells from our friends at Europla Pyrotechnics in Spain and along with these fired lifts of report shells and screecher candles. Daylight fireworks are not often seen in the UK and usually consist of coloured smoke effects, brightly coloured parachutes and a myriad of noise effects. Traditional fireworks don’t have a great deal of impact when fired in the daytime but daylight fireworks which are designed to have impact in bright sunlight really come into their own. They were certainly enjoyed by the crowds that had gathered at the Ipswich Maritime Festival. In the evening we produced a jaw-dropping choreographed display fired to a mix of recent chart hits. Fired from a disused part of the marina we can really create something spectacular. It’s a wonderful event to be a part of and the cheers from the audience at the end of the festival fireworks show topped off two extremely enjoyable displays. The beautiful photos are courtesy of Dee Cannavan. Dee is one of our firers and has just successfully completed her degree in photography. You can check out Dee’s facebook page here.

Happy Anniversary Leeds Castle classical concert!

Fireworks choreographed to live music is the ultimate challenge for any professional pyrotechnician. We love to rise to the challenge! The Leeds Castle classical concert is a mainstay in the Alchemy Fireworks summer calendar. It’s an absolute joy to be a part of such a prestigious event at such a wonderful venue. This year, the concerts’ ruby anniversary, meant that their was a very special atmosphere and the grounds were packed with concert goers and their picnics! Fireworks choreographed to live music included to the 1812 Overture and Pomp & Circumstance lit up the skies above the Castle to huge cheers from the audience. As the final bars of God Save the Queen rang out, we brought the concert to a jaw-dropping climax with a huge volley of fireworks including a 12″ shell underneath which we fired the number ’40’ in fireworks. The precision and technology of the hardware and the fireworks themselves means that with the correct placement on the ground and the correct timings down to the millisecond, we can create letters and numbers in the sky from the ground up. Pretty incredible stuff! Tickets for next year’s concert on Saturday 13th July are on sale already but don’t hang around because they WILL sell out! You can buy yours here!

Alchemy Fireworks managing director holding a large firework shell at a classical concert where fireworks are choreographed to live music