Heritage Special Events Summer Concerts 2010, Leeds Castle

Heritage Special Events Summer Concerts 2010, Leeds Castle

Heritage Special Events – Leeds Castle Summer Concerts, 2010

It’d been 2 years since the last classical summer concerts were held at Leeds Castle. In its heyday the concert attracted 16,000 people to spend a summers evening in the glorious setting of the castle grounds to enjoy an evening’s worth of musical entertainment, live cannons and a grand fireworks finale. So it was with joy that I got the news that the concert was back for 2010 and was going to be bigger and better than ever. The event organisers, Heritage Special Events, had seen and loved our previous work at the castle and we’d been recommended to them so Alchemy Fireworks were the natural choice to provide the pyrotechnic entertainment. The original conversation went something along the lines of; “ Can you fire a maroon at 4pm to announce the gates are open?”. “Sure we can” “Oh, and we want a daylight display, ideally to include red, white and blue smoke as the concert starts”. “Not a problem”. “And of course, a spectacular choreographed display to the 1812, Dambusters and God Save The Queen”. “Naturally!”

We ordered in fanned daylight barrages and mines specifically for the event to create a wall of patriotic red, white and blue smoke. We fired it using our digital firing system FireOne and as the display progressed, the fireworks and noise got progressively faster and louder culminating in lifts of smoke & effect mines across the grounds. Daylight fireworks aren’t often seen in the UK but they prove that fireworks can be fun any time of day!

Firing to live music is most probably the biggest challenge to any pyrotechnician. Following the tempo and feel of the music as the orchestra play is very different to firing to pre-recorded music. But drawing on his wealth of experience, using his expert judgement and finely tuned ear, we put together an extremely well designed and executed display and the huge crowds went wild. It was fantastic to see so many people holding their union jacks aloft and singing along to the Last Night of the Proms favourites – the heyday has returned, and long may it stay!

“Fabulous show on Saturday, well done as usual!” Darlene Cavill, Events Manager, Leeds Castle