Australia to kick off Honda Celebration of Light with "good night out" theme

Australia to kick off Honda Celebration of Light fireworks with "good night out" theme

Preparations for Howard & Sons Pyrotechnics' Australia show for the 2023 Honda Celebration of Light, as of July 21, 2023. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

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Prepare for an authentically Australian-themed fireworks show for the first night of the 2023 Honda Celebration of Light on Saturday, July 22.

As the pyrotechnics company representing Australia, this will be Howard & Sons Pyrotechnics’ fourth performance in the history of Vancouver’s annual international firework competition, which is now marking its 31st year of lighting up the night skies over English Bay.

The Sydney-based firm has a legendary history with pyrotechnics in Australia. It marked the 100th anniversary of the company’s founding last year, with a history behind it of being deeply involved in the pyro programming of countless cultural and sporting events, including the renowned fireworks bashes major Australian cities are known to put on for New Year’s Eve.

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Howard & Sons has been part of some of Australia’s greatest moments, including producing fireworks shows for the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge in 1932 and the Sydney Opera House in 1973.

In 2006 for the Opening Ceremony of the Melbourne Commonwealth Games, the company staged a massive show from a number of barges along the Yarra River and fireworks going off the rooftops of the tallest skyscrapers of the Melbourne City Centre skyline.

And in 2010, the company produced the fireworks for the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

Howard & Sons does not only design and stage shows for events, but it is also a major manufacturer of pyrotechnics products. For 21 years, up until the 1990s, it was the sole supplier of fireworks for the Walt Disney Company’s theme parks.

This morning’s journey to the Honda Celebration of Light fireworks barge in the middle of English Bay. #CelebOfLight #HCOL2023 https://t.co/EVcUSFehHt pic.twitter.com/ZHKdXILKVE

— Kenneth Chan (@iamkennethchan) July 22, 2023

honda celebration of light barge vancouver fireworks english bay australia 2023

Preparations for Howard & Sons Pyrotechnics’ Australia show for the 2023 Honda Celebration of Light, as of July 21, 2023. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Howard & Sons’ participation in this year’s Honda Celebration of Light represents the company’s fourth time competing in Vancouver’s fireworks competition.

The firm competed in the second annual Benson & Hedges Symphony of Fire in 1991, which was the original name of the event that is now known as the Honda Celebration of Light. It was the champion in 1991 and returned to the event the following year.

After an almost quarter-century absence, Howard & Sons returned to Vancouver in 2016, when it delivered a “Live and Loud” theme representing Australia based on a soundtrack mix of cuts from live concerts. In 2016, it competed against pyrotechnics teams representing the Netherlands and the United States, with the United States represented by the Walt Disney Company’s pyrotechnics team at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando. Howard & Sons’ lost to Disney that year.

Full 25-minute show of Howard & Sons’ Team Australia performance at the 2016 Honda Celebration of Light:

Finale of Howard & Sons’ Team Australia performance at the 2016 Honda Celebration of Light:

For the 2023 performance in Vancouver, Howard & Sons’ co-director Andrew Howard says the Australian show will provide a theme of a “night out at the disco” or a “good night out.”

While the fireworks’ technical sequencing is absolutely paramount, it is the accompanying soundtrack that drives the theme of the pyro-musical.

“There are some uniquely Australian songs in the soundtrack. There are some sound effects in the soundtrack, some Indigenous Australian music, and some effects of Australian native animals mixed into the soundtrack,” Andrew told Daily Hive during an interview on the barge on Friday during the final touches of the setup process.

In 2016, Andrew’s brother, Christian Howard, previously told Daily Hive their family’s company, given their longevity, has seen pyrotechnics technology evolve. Christian was in Vancouver in 2016 to oversee their performance that year, while Andrew remained in Australia to manage another show.

Final preparations being made by Howard & Sons for their fireworks show representing Australia at the Honda Celebration of Light. #CelebOfLight #HCOL2023 https://t.co/EVcUSFehHt pic.twitter.com/fx4Vbto58Y

— Kenneth Chan (@iamkennethchan) July 22, 2023

Preparations for Howard & Sons Pyrotechnics’ Australia show for the 2023 Honda Celebration of Light, as of July 21, 2023. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

The Howard family-operated fireworks institution began with their great-grandfather, who started the business, and then passed it on to their grandfather, and eventually their father.

Before the era of computer-animated visualizations, fireworks display designers had to completely imagine how the show would unravel in their heads based on their knowledge of fireworks.

“Back in the day, it was all in your mind,” said Christian. “You needed to have the product knowledge stored in your memory bank, and you would just work out what would happen at what time.”

“For those secondary effects to work out, when it bursts and when the flowers will appear, you have to really work it out. Now, we’ve got a great computer program called Finale Fireworks, and we can design a show with that as it connects to an inventory and makes our job so much easier.”

Preparations for Howard & Sons Pyrotechnics’ Australia show for the 2023 Honda Celebration of Light, as of July 21, 2023. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Every display of the Honda Celebration of Light takes about three days to set up on the barge.

Each year, the competing teams work closely with Winnipeg-based Archangel Fireworks, which is contracted by Brand Live — the main event organizer — to be responsible for the technical aspects of the fireworks component of the multifaceted event, and the coordination and staging of the fireworks competition.

There are 10 personnel on the barge from Archangel working on each show, plus another four crew from the visiting team.

Kelly Guille, the president of Archangel Fireworks, says each show typically involves a few thousand shells, plus thousands of single shots, cakes, and other smaller effects.

The large, industrial-sized barge enables the use of a thick sand layer to bury the mortars, which essentially acts as a safety buffer so that they do not impact other shells if they detonate on the barge instead of exploding up in the air.

The winning team of the Honda Celebration of Light is determined each year by a panel of judges. This year’s judges entail Vancouver City Councillor Sarah Kirby-Yung, Vancouver Park Board commissioner Scott Jensen, Honda’s Ian Quinn, West End Business Improvement Association’s Gary Gohren, Concord Pacific’s Matt Meehan, Daily Hive’s Kenneth Chan, and Post Media’s Harold Munro.

Archangel Fireworks president Kelly Guille; Preparations for Howard & Sons Pyrotechnics’ Australia show for the 2023 Honda Celebration of Light, as of July 21, 2023. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Preparations for Howard & Sons Pyrotechnics’ Australia show for the 2023 Honda Celebration of Light, as of July 21, 2023. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

The judges score each show based on the good balancing of show size (10 points), overall design and artistry (30 points), synchronization (20 points), originality of effects (15 points), quality of soundtrack (15 points), and the quality of fireworks and technical precision (10 points). Each show is scored out of 100 possible points.

The Weather Network’s forecast for Saturday, July 22 calls for clear skies and warm temperatures reaching a high of 26°C, not including humidity, with cooler temperatures hovering at 20°C by the time the fireworks start at 10 pm. At the time of the show, the forecast calls for nine km/hr east-direction winds and weak gusts of up to 14 km/hr.

High tide on Saturday, July 22 will also coincide with the fireworks show, with the tide peaking at 4.5 metres at 10:18 pm — up from the day’s low of 1.4 metres at 3:12 pm. This likely means less capacity on the beaches for crowds of upwards of 500,000 people per night.

As per tradition, each show starts at 10 pm and runs for a length of 25 minutes. The simulcast will be played on big speakers at English Bay Beach, but for those who are watching the show from other locations, radio station CFMI Rock 101 will be playing the soundtrack.

Those arriving in and around English Bay early will also be able to enjoy pre-fireworks entertainment, including the Red Bull Air Show starting at 7:40 pm for all three nights.

The second night of the 2023 fireworks competition is Wednesday, July 26, with Grupo Avacon representing Team Mexico, and the third and final night on Saturday, July 29, with Blue Peacock Fireworks representing The Philippines.

For the first time in at least many years, the final night of the Honda Celebration of Light will not coincide with the BC Day long weekend and the Vancouver Pride Parade, which is scheduled for Sunday, August 6.

Preparations for Howard & Sons Pyrotechnics’ Australia show for the 2023 Honda Celebration of Light, as of July 21, 2023. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Honda Celebration of Light fireworks 2023

Schedule and nations:
- Saturday, July 22: Australia 🇦🇺, represented by Howard & Sons
  - With pre-fireworks Red Bull Air Show
- Wednesday, July 26: Mexico 🇲🇽, represented by Grupo Avacon
  - With pre-fireworks Red Bull Air Show
- Saturday, July 29: The Philippines 🇵🇭, represented by Blue Peacock
  - With pre-fireworks Red Bull Air Show
Time: 10 pm to 10:25 pm (25-minute duration each night). Rain or shine.
Location: English Bay, Vancouver

Daily Hive is a Proud Media Partner of the
2023 Honda Celebration of Light

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