Greenwich and Dockland Festival Fireworks 2010

Greenwich and Dockland Festival Fireworks 2010

Gravity, Greenwich & Docklands Festival @ the National Maritime Museum

The National Maritime Museum in Greenwich will always hold great firework memories for us, as it was where both Glenn and I were firing on Millennium night. We’ve been back quite a few times since, and it’s a beautiful venue for pyrotechnics, either in the snow as it was just before Christmas for a wedding display, or on a warm and sunny summer‘s day as it was on Thursday for the opening night of the 2010 Greenwich & Docklands International Festival. It was the first time that we’ve worked on the festival and it was a delight to be involved in such an interesting, fun and prestigious event. Challenging, though. But as you know already, we enjoy challenges…

The material had to be just right for an historic venue. The design had to be perfectly synchronised with not just the music, but also the video and the dancers (including referencing the colour palette of the dancers’ clothes). And of course we had to impress the audience despite a maximum material size of 30mm and restrictions on where we could fire in relation to the buildings… It was no ordinary fireworks display – more of a combination of over 500 fireworks, stage effects and arena pyrotechnics, all fired by time code, locked on to the music, including dancer and pyro chases back and forth across the site – a human and firework Mexican wave! OK, so it’s difficult to explain, but believe me, it was clever stuff, fun stuff and it worked perfectly. Our thanks to all involved – creative, production, festival team , venue-side and Alchemy crew – you know who you are!

“Sorry that I didn’t manage to catch you after last night’s show, but just wanted to let you know how delighted I was with the pyro and its integration into the overall show. The display was meticulously designed and presented and had terrific impact. I particularly appreciated how well the collaboration worked between you and Jules, leading to such a sophisticated crowd pleasing finale! Also, a real result given the challenges of working in such close proximity to those buildings – well done!” Bradley Hemmings, Artistic Director, Greenwich & Docklands International Festival