Big Splash 2008

Big Splash 2008

Brighton Festival Fireworks: Big Splash 2008, Sussex

Another typical British Bank Holiday… we were on the M23 at 8am on the way to Sussex for the Brighton Festival fireworks display Radio 4 issued a severe weather warning for the South of England, and we could hardly see with the wipers on full. I was pleased with my decision to pack two pairs of wellies, and trying to forget about the previous year when fire performers and the theatrical pyrotechnic element of the show had been abandoned because of torrential rain… but more of that later

For this year’s Big Splash finale to the Brighton Festival we collaborated with local fire performers and general high-octane nutcases Flaming Fun. The show was based on their acclaimed Dragon Eye show but adapted to the scale and duration required for a big audience and a Marina environment. We threw our creativity into the mix, creating pyrotechnic interludes which allowed the FF performers to break and change between routines whilst the focus shifted to the fireworks display on the breakwater behind. Thus the display was built on the interaction of the two layers of choreographed performance: Flaming Fun in the foreground and Alchemy’s fireworks in the background. The simultaneous fire performance and fireworks were choreographed to music, and what a pumping fireworks soundtrack it was – Pendulum; Laurent Garnier; DJ Krust; Prodigy – just the sort of big beats to whip the audience into a frenzy befitting a festival fireworks finale…

And the weather? We were miraculously blessed with blue skies – a small Brighton-sized gap in the storm clouds – so as the rest of the Sussex and the South East got very wet, we got sunburnt. That’s not a complaint, just a note to self to pack wellies and sun cream next time.

“Thank you SO much! ” Kirsty Harris, Marketing & Events Manager, X-Leisure, Brighton Marina

Alchemy Fireworks useful links: Brighton Marina website