Celebration of Light
- This is about the Vancouver Celebration of Light fireworks festival, for other uses see Celebration of Light (disambiguation)
The Celebration of Light (formerly known as Benson & Hedges Symphony of Fire) is an annual musical fireworks competition in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The first "Symphony of Fire" was held from July 25 to August 5 of 1990. The celebration is one of Vancouver's largest and most well known festivals. The multiple-day event has an estimated annual attendance of 1.4 million people. The 2011 event is scheduled for July 30, August 3, and August 6, with performances by China, Spain, and Canada respectively.
2011 Program
The 2011 Celebration of Light presented a "Battle of Champions" by featuring three previous competition winners: China (represented by 2009 winner Red Eagle Industrial and Trade Co. Ltd), Spain (represented by 2010 winner Pirotecnia Igual), and Canada (represented by 2007 and 2008 winner Archangel Fireworks Inc). The winner for the 2011 competition was China.
| Saturday, July 30 |
| Country: |
China |
| Team: |
Red Eagle Manufacturing Industrial and Trade Co. Ltd |
| Theme: |
China Storm |
|
|
| Wednesday, August 3 |
| Country: |
Spain |
| Team: |
Pirotecnia Igual |
| Theme: |
Odyssey |
| Website: |
www.pirotecniaigual.com |
|
|
| Saturday, August 6 |
| Country: |
Canada |
| Team: |
Archangel Fireworks |
| Theme: |
Then and Now |
| Website: |
www.archangelfireworks.com |
|
2010 Program
The 2010 HSBC Celebration of Light winner was Spain (Pirotecnia Igual)[1].
| Wednesday, July 21 |
| Country: |
United States |
| Company: |
Rozzi Inc. |
| Theme: |
In the Mood |
|
|
| Saturday, July 24 |
| Country: |
Spain |
| Team: |
Pirotecnia Igual |
| Theme: |
Heaven and Hell |
| Website: |
www.pirotecniaigual.com |
|
|
| Wednesday, July 28 |
| Country: |
Mexico |
| Team: |
Lux Pirotecnia |
| Theme: |
Journey |
| Website: |
www.luxpirotecnia.com |
|
|
| Saturday, July 31 |
| Country: |
Canada, China |
| Team: |
Groupe Fiatlux-Ampleman |
| Theme: |
Tribute to China/The Butterfly Lovers |
|
2009 Program
The 2009 HSBC Celebration of Light winner was China (Red Eagle Industrial and Trade Co. Ltd.)[2].
| Wednesday, July 22 |
| Country: |
Canada |
| Company: |
Archangel Fireworks Inc. |
| Theme: |
No Place Like Home |
| Website: |
www.archangelfireworks.com |
|
|
| Saturday, July 25 |
| Country: |
South Africa |
| Team: |
Fireworks for Africa |
| Theme: |
Tapestry of Colour |
|
|
| Wednesday, July 29 |
| Country: |
United Kingdom |
| Team: |
PYRO2000 |
| Theme: |
Parasols Over the Pacific |
|
|
| Saturday, August 1 |
| Country: |
China |
| Team: |
Red Eagle Industrial and Trade Co. Ltd. |
| Theme: |
Through the Looking Glass |
|
2008 Program
The 2008 HSBC Celebration of Light winner was Canada, making back-to-back wins for Archangel Fireworks Inc.
| Wednesday, July 23 |
| Country: |
Canada |
| Company: |
Archangel Fireworks Inc. |
| Theme: |
Attack |
| Designer: |
Kelly Guille & Sean Procter |
| Website: |
www.archangelfireworks.com |
|
|
| Saturday, July 26 |
| Country: |
United States |
| Company: |
Western Enterprises, Incorporated |
| Theme: |
Love Will Change the World |
| Designer: |
Gary P. Caimano |
| Website: |
www.fireworksbywestern.com |
|
|
| Wednesday, July 30 |
| Country: |
China |
| Company: |
Pyromagic Productions Ltd. |
| Theme: |
Power of the Dream |
| Designer: |
Wilson Mao |
| Website: |
www.pyromagic.com.hk |
|
|
| Saturday, August 2 |
|
| Grand Finale |
| Designer: |
TBA |
|
2007 Program
The 2007 HSBC Celebration of Light winner was Canada.
| Wednesday, July 25 |
| Country: |
Spain |
| Company: |
Ricardo Caballer Pirotechnica |
| Theme: |
Fireworks and the 7th Earth |
| Designer: |
Ricardo Caballer Cardo |
| Website: |
www.ricardocaballer.com |
|
|
| Saturday, July 28 |
| Country: |
Canada |
| Company: |
Archangel Fireworks Inc. |
| Theme: |
Take Five to Jive |
| Designer: |
Kelly Guille and Sean Procter |
| Website: |
www.archangelfireworks.com |
|
|
| Wednesday, August 1 |
| Country: |
China |
| Company: |
Jiangxi Province Lidu Fireworks Corporation Ltd. |
| Theme: |
The Time Machine |
| Designer: |
Xu Delong |
| Website: |
www.lidufireworks.com |
|
|
| Saturday, August 4 |
|
| Celebration Finale |
| Designer: |
Yves Relave |
|
2006 Program
The 2006 winner is Mexico, who joins this competition for the first time.
| Wednesday, July 26 |
| Country: |
Italy |
| Company: |
A.P.E. di Parente Romualdo |
| Theme: |
Magia Di Fuochi |
| Designer: |
Michele Parente |
| Website: |
www.parenteape.it |
| The Italian team's presentation is a peculiar and charming pyrotechnic show with wide variety of effects ranging from the sky to the water, dancing volcanoes, golden rain and a fantastic closure. Attendance was estimated at 400,000. |
|
| Saturday, July 29 |
| Country: |
China |
|
| Company: |
Jiangxi Province Lidu Fireworks Corporation Ltd. |
| Theme: |
Yellow River Odyssey |
| Designer: |
Xu Delong |
| Website: |
www.lidufireworks.com |
| The Chinese team's presentation features specific colours in each of the five sections: blue, silver and crackling, green, green falling leaves and gold. The music is performed by The Philarmonic Orchestra of China, accompanied by pianist Xiang-Dong Kong. |
|
| Wednesday, August 2 |
| Country: |
Czech Republic |
| Company: |
Flash Barrandov Special Effects Ltd. |
| Theme: |
Rhapsody in Blue |
| Designer: |
Jaroslav Štolba |
| Website: |
www.flash-sfx.cz |
| The Czech Republic show is an evening full of jazz music in four sections: Classical jazz, Conspiracy jazz, Latin jazz and Traditional jazz. |
|
| Saturday, August 5 |
| Country: |
Mexico |
| Company: |
Lux Pirotecnia, S.A. de C.V. |
| Theme: |
Siente México: Feel Mexico |
| Designer: |
Jorge M. Márquez |
| Website: |
www.luxpirotecnia.com |
| Past and future values come together in a program full of joy. A musical score that includes pre-Hispanic sounds, music in the history of carnival celebrations, traditional sounds mixed with innovative rhythms, and some of the best Mexican known values, friendship and fraternity are present in this show with the purpose to make you feel a little part of Mexico. |
|
| Celebration Finale |
| Designer: |
Jaroslav Štolba |
| The Celebration Finale is specially designed to pay tribute to the HSBC Celebration of Light competition. The 6-minute Celebration Finale did not include components from participating countries. |
Previous Years
Because of the change in sponsor, records are difficult to find before the year 2001.
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
1999
1998
1997
1996
1995
References
External links
- Official Celebration of Light website
- Full video clip of the Italian July 26, 2006 firework display
- Full video clip of the Chinese July 29, 2006 firework display
- Full video clip of the Czech Republic August 2, 2006 firework display
- Full video clip of the Mexican August5, 2006 firework display
- Full video clip of Spain July 25, 2007 fireworks display
- Full video clip of Canada July 23, 2008 fireworks display
- Full video clip of USA July 26, 2008 fireworks display
- Full video clip of China July 30, 2008 fireworks display
- Full video clip of the Finale August 2 2008 fireworks display
- Full video clip of Canada July 23, 2009 fireworks display
- Full video clip of the United States July 21, 2010 fireworks display
- Full video clip of Spain July 24, 2010 fireworks display
- Full video clip of Mexico July 28, 2010 fireworks display
- Celebration of Light - Photo shot from North Vancouver