Organizing, preparing and setting up your display can take quite a lot of time and hard work but its all certainly worth it.

When a display is just provisionally  booked  if it is a venue we have not fired at before then the first thing Mike does is have a look at the venue to check that it is suitable for a display then he will contact the owners or managers of that venue to discuss the display  and check any special requirements they may have (we are on the 'Heritage Sites'  and  National Trust list of approved Fireworks Display companies).    When we have a firm booking he goes out to visit the proposed firing site on the first full Risk Assessment visit.   

If it is a venue we know then it still needs to be fully and carefully checked to make sure that nothing has changed at all.

Mike completes a full Risk Assessment, one of the main things being  to ensure there will be enough space to fire a display safely - for the customers and for the crew.   He makes notes about the exact location of the site and any properties near by (we may need to contact neighbours , put notices up etc).   He sometimes takes photos of the location to aid his memory when planning the display.

The location of the site will decree which (if any) official bodies (Coastguard, police, civil aviation authority, local council for example) we need to contact.   He also takes note of the prevailing wind direction and the condition of the ground

A ground check shows which type of rack,  fixings and anchors will be needed to fire safely.

There will be further site visits to confirm the initial measurements and wind direction changes amongst other things.     

The  crew firing that particular display (this may be 2, 3, 4 or more people depending on the size of the display) will also need to see the site prior to firing the display there - remember it may be dark when they are actually working so they need to know the layout of the site.

 Taking into account the requirements of the customer, the site location etc the amount and type of pyro needs to be carefully worked out.   Each item being checked,   the relevant fuse type decided upon and then each firework is fused and prepared.   The firing racks are also checked before and after every display.

 

A small selection of the racks which may be used to fire a display.

Layouts need to be planned, amended and finalized.   Each member of the crew has a copy of the plan.   Some fireworks will be fired electronically some will be fired by hand, everyone has to be certain of which is which.  There are fireworks which must fired from behind, some only from the left etc, this has to be taken into account in the layout.

These are just some of the fireworks we use.      They are nothing like the kind of fireworks you can buy in a shop.

On the day of the display everything needs to be set up in good time.   Somehow the crew can manage to do this without being noticed if the display is to be a surprise *(see below).   This frequently means arriving at the site hours before the display is to be fired.

	The pyro has to be unloaded from the van, checked again then the racks are placed in their approximate position.   When everything is unloaded and checked the final placings can be made and everything fixed safely
At the end of the display all the safety equipment and racks  have to be collected and loaded back into the van along with the empty boxes and all the safety equipment.   The crew then take heavy duty black sacks and check the site, picking up any rubbish.   The site is checked again the next day in daylight.

*One bride phoned Mike on his mobile almost in tears because she thought the display that she had booked as a surprise for her groom was not going to take place.   Mike described to her where he was hiding and then waved to her.   Everything was already set up and ready to fire at the agreed time.   To say that both Bride and Groom were happy with the display would very definitely be an  understatement.