Quebec Fireworks Competition - Les Grands Feux Loto

Festival Location: Quebec, Canada

Festival Type: Fireworks Displays

Quebec Fireworks Competition - Les Grands Feux Loto Media:

Midsummer Nights Magic

By: © Bob Brooke 2009

Missing were the "ooos" and "ahhhs" heard at typical fireworks displays. The people sitting huddled under panchos and sheltered under a rainbow of umbrellas came to Montmorency Falls, just outside Quebec City, to witness a special kind of magic - the final display of the three-week long Les Grands Feux Loto-Quebec fireworks competition. A steady rain didn't stop them and neither did a mist so thick they could taste it.

For the last eight years, Loto-Quebec as it's popularly known, has mesmerized a loyal audience with its dazzling pyrotechnic displays set against one of the world's most spectacular waterfalls. Pyrotechnic masters from five countries - the United Kingdom, Mexico, Czech Republic, Germany, and China - presented six pyro-musical shows that awed spectators through a display of dazzling colors and a choreography of forms that only master firework-makers of this caliber can produce.

Fireworks History

But the story of fireworks is an old one - a story of fire-breathing dragons, ancient Chinese alchemy, and centuries-old Italian secrets. Fireworks are more than sound and light, they're emotion merged with a blend of ancient science, modern technology and imagination. Beginning with a simple black powder, they fill the sky with sound and color, and stir the soul of everyone who watches. But the Loto-Quebec displays go one step further, elevating pyrotechnics to an art form in which these wizards literally paint the sky with light.

It was the Chinese who first discovered gunpowder over 1,000 years ago. Soon they developed simple pyrotechnics, like firecrackers, which they believed had the power to scare away evil spirits. Marco Polo said these devices made such a dreadful noise that anyone not used to it could easily go into a swoon and even die.

Using fireworks for pleasure began in 14th-century Italy. Wealthy princes commissioned early pyrotechnicans to create incandescent spectacles at court. To show off his superiority, a prince would stage a grand firework demonstration. Those who produced these displays were considered wizards of sorts.

The Renaissance brought an innovation in pyrotechnics, with more potent compounds and creative staging. The Catholic Church even used fireworks to add some magic to Saints' days celebrations.

During Elizabethan times, pyrotechnic dramas became high entertainment. Lavish stage productions featuring fiery dragons and castle sets would tell a story. And the production designers would be lured from one city to another by lucrative contracts.

The type of displays seen at Loto-Quebec first appeared at London's pleasure gardens, offering horse racing, bear baiting and fireworks, in the 1730's. Over the next 200 years, the Italians developed prototypes of almost all the basic fireworks. But as late as the 19th century, one challenge still stood between the alchemists and total mastery of their art-color. While they could create gold and silver, their colors were weak, insipid, almost non-existent. The colors of the Loto-Quebec displays, on the other hand, were vibrant and almost surreal.

Pyrotechnicians in southern Italy replaced potassium nitrate with potassium chlorate, a more energetic source of oxygen, in the 1830s, thus speeding up the rate of oxygen delivered to the reaction, boosting the temperature of combustion. A new age of pyrotechnics was born.

The Alchemy of Pyrotechnics

To create color, pyrotechnicians add metal salts such as copper oxychloride to the basic oxidant fuel mix to produce a blue flame. And the sign of a premier fireworks maker, like those represented at Loto-Quebec, is a rich blue color. Adding strontium salts to the mix makes a red flame. And adding barium to the mix makes a green flame. So with these three salts, plus others, pyrotechnicians have a whole palette of colors at their disposal. By carefully selecting the type and amount of compound used, they can create any color in the visible spectrum.

Once the black powder charge in the bottom of the shell has been ignited it burns extremely quickly. Within 15 milliseconds it generates large amounts of gas, blasting shells into the sky at 300 miles an hour. These fiery bombs usually travel 100 feet vertically for every inch of their diameter, so a 6-inch shell will shoot up to 600 feet before exploding. The same shell might produce a burst of as much as 600 feet across.

The biggest change in fireworks technology has been in the method of firing. Today, using computers, pyrotechnicians can fire shells a tenth of a second apart if necessary, allowing them to do a lot more with the coordination of music and lasers. Pyrotechnicians competing in Loto-Quebec pulled out all the stops, utilizing the latest technology available to create their magical displays.

2003 Loto-Quebec Program

The British team, winner of the Solstice Loto-Quebec in 2002 and represented by the firm of Pyro 2000 under the direction of Graham Wilkinson, began the 2003 competition with its program of a "A Taste of Space", painting the sky with light to the music of Cyndi Lauper, Celine Dion, Edith Piaf, and Vangelis, with some spectacular special effects.

Mexico, represented by Lux Pirotecnia, presented its program "Dreams in Color." Designer Jorge Marquez adapted some innovative technologies to traditional Mexican fireworks accompanied by he traditional Mexican melodies of "Guadalajara" and "La Bamba," as well as music by Vangelis, Santana, and two original compositions by Ernesto Martinez.

Next to present their program "Mysery" was the team from the Czech Republic, represented by Flash Barrandov with special effects led by designer Jaroslav Stolba. This creative display, inspired by original music of Cirque du Soled used a variety of visual effects ranging from Bengal torches to Roman candles in electrifying colors ranging from titanium white to pigeon blue and lime green.

The German team, represented by Innovative Pyrotechnik GmbH, led by designer Matthias Lunig also presented a program called "Dreams", choreographed to the music of Robbie Williams, Sara Brightman, Michael Jackson, and Celine Dion.

Beijing Zhong Fa Fireworks Art Group, a former winner of the Loto-Quebec competition and winner of the Solstice Loto-Quebec 2003, represented China. It's presentation entitled "Through the Seasons," designed by artificer Yves Relave under the direction of Ms. Zhao Yi, featured exploding bouquets of peonies, sunflowers and chrysanthemums choreographed to the music of Mike Oldfield, Vivaldi, Saint-Saens, Ellton John, and Philip Glass. Their program was not only the most technically advanced but one of the most complicated choreographically.

It was fitting that China, the inventor of pyrotechnics, should win such a competition as Loto-Quebec in the 21st Century. The crowds will never forget it.

More Information

For more information, visit the Web Site of Les Grands Feux Loto-Quebec (http://www.lesgrandsfeux.com). Spectators can purchase tickets for individual displays or combination tickets for a six-course gourmet dinner in the Manoir Montmorency prior and after the evening's fireworks. Cuisine is from the country which is putting on the show that night.

Check out Bob Brooke's wonderful sites featuring more of his writing and phootography at http://www.bobbrooke.com, http://www.therealmexico.com and http://www.allscandinavia.com. All three are updated regularly.

by Bob Brooke

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Quebec Fireworks Competition - Les Grands Feux Loto Dates and Location

The three week Les Grands Feux Loto-Quebec Fireworks Competition is held at Montmorency Falls, just outside Quebec City every July. Check out http://www.lesgrandsfeux.com for up to date details.