Fireworks competitions come in all shapes and sizes – if you love a good show, then there’s no better entertainment than enjoying a day at a fireworks festival. While there are plenty of shows to experience around the world, one competition is above all the others: Montreal Fireworks Festival.
Once again, this prestigious event will take place in the beautiful city of Montreal later this summer. So, how to get involved?
History of the competition
The event has been running since 1985 and its official title is L’International des Feux Loto-Québec. It’s organised in the beautiful harbour of Montreal, with the displays taking place over the Dolphins Lake.
The competition in 2017 will include six different pyrotechnic teams. The idea is that each team will organise a display combining fireworks and music. These extravagant shows must go on for 30 minutes.
An expert panel will review all the performances and at the end the top-three will be selected and presented with Jupiters, the winning trophies. The winner will get a gold trophy, with silver and bronze trophies going for the second and third team.
Past winners have included a number of US-based pyrotechnic teams. However, UK has also come on top – the most recently, Jubilee Fireworks managed to take the top spot in 2015. The team is competing again this year so it’ll be interesting to see what happens this time.
Last year, the winning trophy went to a Spanish team called RICASA. Watch a part of their winning performance in the below YouTube clip.
The key dates and times for the Montreal Fireworks Festival 2017
The Montreal Fireworks Festival 2017 will start in July and end in August. The opening and closing night won’t feature any competitive displays, but there will be plenty of fireworks to experience nonetheless. Furthermore, this year will be a rather special occasion because the city of Montreal is celebrating its 375th anniversary.
The full schedule looks like this:
- Opening night on July 1.
- Italian pyrotechnic team Vaccalluzzo Events will perform on July 8.
- Polish pyrotechnic team Surex will perform on July 15.
- German pyrotechnic team Innovative Protechnik GMBH will perform on July 19.
- French pyrotechnic team féérie will perform on July 22.
- Portuguese firm Macedos Pirotecnia will perform on July 26.
- English team Jubilee Fireworks Ltd. will perform on July 29.
- Closing show on August 5.
All the shows will start at 10pm – come rain or shine.
You can find out more about the competition here. The Montreal tourism website is also great for information about the city.
How to enjoy the show if you can’t fly to Canada?
As much as we love fireworks, we understand that not everyone is going to be able to enjoy the show live – and if you can just decide to jump on a plane to Canada, we’re very jealous! The great thing is that Firework Crazy website has plenty of fireworks to ensure you can put on a great show without travelling to Canada. You can also find plenty of stunning firework videos online on YouTube from the previous Montreal Fireworks Festivals. We’ll also be sharing the best clips we find from this year’s competition on our social media.
Indeed, Montreal Fireworks Festival 2017 is worth experiencing even if you can’t be there. Just admire the show and throw your own fireworks party with friends and family!