Knokke
Heist
2016
In August 2016, we finished off our competitions for the year in the illustrious Knokke-Heist competing in the “International Fireworks Festival”. Knokke was a brand-new experience and was the first competition many of our crew worked on. Upon arriving in Knokke it was evident that the locals and the tourists were ready for a good competition. The climate of the entire City was full of excited tension which only added to the experience for our crew.
"Knokke was a brand-new experience and was the first competition many of our crew worked on!"
The Setup
"The climate of the entire City was full of excited tension which only added to the experience for our crew."
Knokke was a new experience, even for Mark as the site is on the beach. I cannot tell you the trouble that causes, booking deliveries “no exact address, just the beach?”. The mortar tubes were placed in skips full of sand, which in turn secured them deeply in the ground. To stop the tide wiping out the site overnight the organisers had built a manmade sand barrier between the sea and the pyro. The beach was 140 meters wide which we filled with 13 Single shot plates wide and 8 plates deep. There were 11 Special effect towers for the Jet and flash pots, which you can see in Reet Petite, with a magnitude of Shells to top it all off.
Working on the sand causes several issues for the crew, as I am sure you can imagine. At one point the wind picked up and created a miniature sandstorm that the crew worked through and lost some leg skin! The crew were on site for a total of 2 days working up to 16 hours each day before crashing at the house with some burnt pizza (someone let Ash cook).
"The beach was 140 meters wide which we filled with 13 Single shot plates wide and 8 plates deep."
Finally, after all the hard work our show fired. I am constantly astounded by the scripts Mark and the crew pull off but Knokke-Heist is my favourite. I was reassured in my belief that it was astounding by my mother, who does not even like fireworks and is not really impressed by most Pyromusicals due to her sheer lack of interest. She rang me up, to say how amazed she was. The 20-minute-long show consisted of some well-selected songs including a beautiful set to ‘Hello’ by Adele. Believe me it was breathtaking.
Once the closing show came around, we all sat at home watching the live stream again. From where the camera was angled, we could clearly see our crew out in Knokke-Heist in their pink collared t-shirts. As we watched it was announced that Pyrotex Fireworks has won 1st Place Prize! To accompany the announcement was the delightful video of our crew on the ground reacting in ecstatic hugging and shrieking. Clearly very proud of themselves, and quite rightly so!
The Show
