UPDATE

Rocking the Riviera!

June 2009

The setting was the French Riviera and

the occasion probably the most opulent
wedding party the Cote d’Azur will see
all year.

Fantastic Fireworks were proud to be there to

give the event a dazzling 1am display.

Several weeks of careful planning went into

preparing one of our biggest ever shows, fired
from two barges moored off the coast of St
Jean Cap Ferrat.

The weather was calm and the sea was placid,

creating perfect conditions for the 7-minute
spectacular which was choreographed to a
music mix including Aerosmith’s I Don’t Want
to Miss A Thing, Vanessa Mae’s Storm &
Bosson's You’re One in a Million.

Earlier in the evening a crescent of our

silverjet fountains celebrated the special
moment when the bride & groom made their
wedding vows. Then they took to the dance
floor for headline music acts Craig David & The
Saturdays before inviting their guests outside
at 1am for a special surprise.

When it was all over the client came
over and said ‘Thank you for giving
my daughter such a wonderful
display on her wedding day. You did
everything I asked.’
More photos inside.
Blogging all over the world
The Fantastic Fireworks blog is reaching its first anniversary with nearly 200 posts. They
have come from as far afield as Sri Lanka, China, Canada, Greece, France, Italy and South
America, building a unique diary of a year in our life. The most memorable must surely be a
senior firer’s description of his late night return to a dark & foggy Rocket Park after a
successful November display. He likened it to the safe return of a Second World War fighter
pilot after a bombing sortie, drained, exhausted and knowing he had to get up and do it all
over again the following day!
Read the best of the blog over the page or go to www.fantasticfireworks.co.uk

Tidy Tom is Rocket DID YOU KNOW?....

....that we will be supplying the
Park’s Mr Clean fireworks for Michael Ball’s birthday
concert this month...that we recently
There is no way of knowing for sure but helped Raymond Blanc celebrate 25
Rocket Park must be the tidiest fireworks years of his hotel Le Manoir Aux
site in the country, For the past few Quat’Saisons...that we will be providing
months our ops manager Tom Clark & his the fireworks for the Hampton Court
team have been busy making the place Music Festival this month...that our
look spick and span. Process buildings Training School trains more than 50
have been painted and spruced up, new pyrotechnicians every year...that all
drains have been laid and the floors are so our displays carry £10 million public
clean you could eat off them. It’s all part of liability insurance as standard...that we
Tom’s mission to give his team the best are committed to community projects
possible working conditions & FF a site to like tree-planting & support for local
be proud of. Our insurance assessor hospices...that if you would like us to
certainly agreed. He gave us full marks for help you celebrate your special event,
our Health & Safety procedures.
we’re only a phone call away on 01582
485555.

Like to know more? Call 01582 485555 or log on to www.fantasticfireworks.co.uk or email info@fantasticfireworks.co.uk
 UPDATE
These exciting new effects are the latest ‘must have’ for your show
On our last visit to China we found some new effects
that you won’t see anywhere else. Combining colour
and noise they will give a fresh, exciting new feel to
every show finale.
Our specialist range of shape and effects shells will be
enhanced with two new 150mm winners: A spectacular
‘Stained Glass’ effect and the beautiful hanging effect
of Red & Silver Windbells.
Our commitment to the wedding market will be given a
boost by our brand new range of pink, lime green and
lemon effects including a 65-shot fan barrage which
sends up tails of silver spinners that burst in alternate
lemon and pink peonies.
For those requiring shows on water our new aqua cakes
fire 36 bombettes that float then burst in a wonderwall
of gold brocade and silver tails that burst with colour
peonies. A magical sight! The beautiful stained glass effect

Have fun, be there, make their day

When I once asked a client what she
wanted from us, she replied ‘I want a bit of
your soul.’ It’s a response that I’ve always
remembered, and not only because I
frequently asked myself what she meant.
After 25 years in the business I think I now
know.
Fireworks is a highly emotional experience
but putting on a great show is only the half
of it. Our clients rightly expect us to give
our all to make their display that extra bit
special. They want us not only to sweat
blood over the design, but to be there in
person on the day, to reassure them and
share in their excitement & elation.
For our big display in France recently,
which is featured on the front page, our
client, the bride’s father, was phoning me
all morning wanting to know when I would
Who’s who at Fantastic Fireworks
Jon Culverhouse Managing Director
Steve Boothman Display Director
Ali Robertson Senior Display Manager
Dave Mannion Display Manager
David Willsher Display Manager
Tom Clark Operations Manager
Linda Sherriff HR Manager
Kate McGing Office Manager
be arriving. Although our show director
was already there with him, he wanted me
personally to reassure him that all was
going well and that there wouldn’t be any
problems. When I pointed out a couple of
large yachts in the bay that would spoil
the view of the fireworks, he gave me the
hotline to the local police launch which he
had hired in for the day. Within an hour,
the yachts had moved away!
Like any performing art, there is always a
touch of the jitters before a big display.
You just have to sit and wait for the magic
moment when the first fireworks shoot up.
Then you know it will be all right.
Some years ago I watched a short film
about fishmongers at the renowned Pike
Place fish market in Seattle, showing how
they were able to turn a hard & messy job
into a piece of street theatre. Their motto
email jonc@fantasticfireworks.co.uk
email steveb@fantasticfireworks.co.uk
email alir@fantasticfireworks.co.uk
email davem@fantasticfireworks.co.uk
email davidw@fantasticfireworks.co.uk
email tomc@fantasticfireworks.co.uk
email lindas@fantasticfireworks.co.uk
email katem@fantasticfireworks.co.uk
was ‘Have Fun, be there, make their
day.’
The same applies to fireworks. Setting
up a display can be hard work, often in
cold and wet conditions. But when those
first banks of shells burst in the sky, it all
suddenly becomes worthwhile. These
days I don’t get to press any of the
buttons that make it all happen. My job
is to be there with the clients, have
some fun and make their day.
After the display in France our client
saluted me like a hero & introduced me
to all his guests as if I were some sort of
magician who’d just pulled off the trick of
the year. It’s a very nice feeling but there
are rare occasions when things don’t
quite go the way you want.
Not so long ago I sat & watched a
display which was not the overwhelming
success we had planned. The sightlines
had been obscured by a massive set &
we had no time to make any
adjustments. Sometimes you have to
accept the consequences & hope that,
as in this case, you’re given another
chance to redeem yourselves.
Jon Culverhouse
Managing Director

Published by Fantastic Fireworks Ltd, Rocket Park, Luton LU1 4LL Tel 01582 485555 email info@fantasticfireworks.co.uk web www.fantasticfireworks.co.uk

Almost a year in the life of Fantastic Fireworks
The Italian Job!!
07 Sep 08 9.27am
The setting may be Italy but Mini it wasn’t!! The olive groves and
vineyards of Tuscany lit up with a chase of gold to celebrate a
wedding that would match anything Hollywood could offer. To fire
the show and create the spectacle a 100m sq area of ultra dry
scrubland had to be scraped down to bare earth and the team
worked all day to produce another ‘Fantastic’ result. But now the
current phase of my European campaign draws to an end and it's
back to airport lounges and seats with no legroom as I make my
way back to Manchester. Thanks to all our partners, especially
Paul at Nanos and Steve at Parente, who have made this a week to
remember for us.
Posted by Steve B
The Running Man
02 Oct 08, 2.15pm
Today I have decided to do my bit for charity. I
will be running 5km whilst dressed as Santa for
The Pasque Charity and Keech Cottage hospice in
Luton. It is supposed to be a Fun Run but as
always my competitive nature makes me think I
will take it all too seriously.
Posted by Tom
Target For Tonight
13 Nov 08, 9.30am
It was while firing to The Dam Busters that it occurred to me.
Rocket Park during the season resembles nothing so much as a
WWII bomber base 'somewhere in England'. Especially in the
early hours of the morning, when the vans return, low on fuel and
covered in mud, thundering in through the gates, back from their
'missions'. They 'taxi' down to 'dispersal', and the crews climb
down. grimy, sweaty, completely exhausted, to be met by Station
Adjutant Chris with steaming mugs of hot chocolate.
"How was it ?" " Bloody awful. Weather was bad, worse than
More photos from our French Riviera display
expected - couldn't see the audience, let alone the fireworks. Rain got in
the electrics - had to fire by hand. And then the radios failed. Wizard
show though."
"Well done chaps - now get off and have some sleep. We'll need maximum
effort again tonight."
Posted by DickB
A Changing World
30 Nov 08, 1.27am (Liuyang Time)
I have eaten some strange but extremely nice dishes in the cause of
Fantastic Fireworks over the last few days. Dog, goat and perch to name
just three - and all very tasty I might add, but one of the most memorable
things about this trip, other than the fireworks and the hospitality, is the
obvious way in which our world is changing...
I last visited China two years ago and remembered a country that was 'an
emerging economy' with many obvious signs of the gulf between those
that have and those that haven't. In those two years the changes here
have been immense with many new high rise appartment blocks appearing
on the Liuyang skyline, along with a really noticeable increase in the
number of cars on the road and the number of people shopping on streets
that now boast names like Armani and McDonalds. Later today we leave
the home of fireworks and fly to the southern China city of Beihai before
travelling back to the UK next week knowing that I will take back
memories of a more prosperous China than I did on my last visit.
Posted by Steve B
Wispa makes a sparkling return
21 Dec 08, 1.03am
A big thank you and well done to everyone from Fantastic Fireworks who
took part in the Wispa TV commercial, which was aired last night. Paul
Roberts & his team were but a few of the 300 volunteers whose efforts
were squeezed into 90 seconds of colourful capers to celebrate the return
of the chocolate bar. We can all be proud of the fact that the fireworks
occupied a full 30 seconds and looked absolutely stunning. Perhaps the
best moment was seeing the Wispa name sparkling away centre stage. This
...the best of our blog from 2008/2009
was made at our Rocket Park HQ by one of
him nightly from his caravan. His supplier is threatening legal action
our new technicians, Turney Logan, who can
to recover the debt and the state of Jersey is threatening to
be delighted at seeing his handiwork on
destroy the rockets. Taking my call between shifting bodies in the
prime time TV.
mortuary, Terry is cheerful but defiant. 'I set out to beat your
Posted by Jon
rocket record,' he tells me, 'but instead of that I'm heading for a
record 600 nights in my caravan!' And he has no intention of budging.
Going green! 'I won't move until Jersey pay me the money they owe.' Judging by
the present impasse, Terry could be facing many more nights in his
14 Jan 09, 4.55pm
caravan.
Here at Fantastic Fireworks we are starting off the New Year the way
Posted by Jon
in which we intend to carry on! As of today, we are starting a new
recycling initiative, one that will not only help the environment, but also
benefit a brilliant charitable cause too. So a double-whammy of good We take on the Hamster in TV rocket duel
things rolled up into one easy-peasy task! We are collecting up all used
4 March 09, 10.59pm
toners, cartridges, PDA’s and old mobile phones and we will be sending
Amazing what you can find on YouTube. I’ve just discovered a clip in
them off to an organisation that will not only recycle each item, but
which one of our rockets is pitted against TV stuntman Richard
donate a percentage of the re-sale cost to our chosen charity.
Hammond. British daftness at its best as the Hamster takes on our
Posted by Kate
Whopper rocket and a golf ball to see who's fastest over 250 metres.
Hammond is propelled by a 170mph motorbike in a stunt for the TV
Terry camps out for a record series Brainiac on Sky. I won't spoil the fun by revealing the result.
Just let me say that after watching it you may want to call Hayley in
27 Feb 09, 8.46pm
our Mail Order department on 0800 511 511 and place an order!
Firework stories don't come more bizarre and boggling than the one
Posted by Jon
related to me today by our long-time pyro-pal Terry
McDonald. Terry has led a long and varied life on the
Red Nose Day update
island of Jersey, from a spell as a bomb disposal officer &
drugs-buster in the CID to his current job as an
24th April 09, 4.55pm
undertaker. He is also the island's most senior
This week saw a big fat cheque sent off to the 2009
pyrotechnician. But nothing could have prepared him for
Comic Relief appeal on behalf of Fantastic Fireworks,
his present bind. This time two years ago Terry was
surely the loveliest of fireworks companies there is!
gearing up to break the world rocket record created by
A lot of fun was had raising the money through our
Fantastic Fireworks in 2006. He'd bought 110,000
'Auction of Promises'. Just today I had a lovely time
rockets from a UK supplier and all was set for the record attempt. But
sitting in the FF garden with Gail, basking in the sunshine, listening to
then local environmentalists rained on his parade and Jersey pulled the
the birds sing, whilst receiving my expert knitting lesson! I am now
plug. That was just the start of Terry's problems. He was sitting on
the proud creator of 3 inches of scarf!
110,000 rockets with no means of paying for them and nowhere legal to
Posted by Kate
store them. That was back in August 2oo7. Today Terry is still the
custodian of the rockets, which are stored in a quarry and guarded by