Philippines to put on "Independence Day" fireworks at Celebration of Light

Team Philippines to put on "Independence Day" fireworks at Honda Celebration of Light

Honda Celebration of Light fireworks barge in English Bay, Vancouver. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

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There is now just one more opportunity to attend Vancouver’s quintessential summer event. The third and final show of the 2023 Honda Celebration of Light this Saturday, July 29 will be staged by a team representing the Philippines.

Robert Basihan, the show designer for Blue Peacock Fireworks, told Daily Hive Listed the company was founded in 2015 and has quickly become one of the Philippines’ most promising names, with a big footprint in the Philippines’ largest fireworks events. They are based in Santa Maria, just outside of Manila.

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Throughout their individual careers, he says, the team has collectively won more awards than any other pyrotechnics company in the Philippines, such as titles at the Macau International Fireworks Competition, GlobalFest in Calgary, Casino Du Lac Leamy in Ottawa, and Changsha Orange Island in China.

And they have also previously been deeply involved in the shows that resulted in two championship titles at the Honda Celebration of Light in 2014 and 2017, while working for Akariya Fireworks, which represented Team Japan at the event. They worked as a co-designer and technical support for both shows.

This time around, they will be vying for the title under Team Philippines — and this is the first time the Philippines will be represented in the 31 years of the Honda Celebration of Light.

As for their historical footprint in Philippines’ fireworks events, their team members were involved in a major fireworks display in 1998 celebrating the 100th anniversary of the country’s national independence.

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)

The team also knows the inner workings behind the organization of major international fireworks competitions. They were previously responsible for the staging of the long-running annual Philippine International Pyromusical Competition (PIPC), which was one of the world’s largest and most renowned fireworks competitions.

Like Vancouver’s event in English Bay, their fireworks competition was also launched from barges in the middle of Manila Bay.

Basihan says he co-founded the original iteration of the event, previously known as the World Pyro Olympics. The current principal of Blue Peacock Fireworks was the technical director of the event in 2005, when it transitioned into a “classical format” competition. Between 2010 and 2015, they returned to the PIPC as the main organizer. The Manila competition has been on hiatus since 2020 due to the pandemic.

“Being the technical director once again further develop the style of our displays and we were able to combine artistic presentation and inspired choreography with dynamic performances able to capture the emotions of the jury and spectators, set for each song selection as presented on our shows resulting to achieving winning in pyromusical competition internationally,” he said.

“Our experience in setting up the layout of all international participating teams enhanced our already develop skills and polished our creativity in show designing techniques.”

Philippine International Pyromusical Competition Canada 2019

Team Canada at the 2019 Philippine International Pyromusical Competition. (Philippine International Pyromusical Competition)

For their first-ever show representing the Philippines in Vancouver, Blue Peacock Fireworks has designed a display carrying the theme of “Independence Day (Liberation),” says Basihan.

The pyromusical soundtrack will feature popular house/trance and epic music, and original Filipino tunes. He specifically mentioned music from Queen and the Black Eyed Peas, too.

Four members of Blue Peacock Fireworks are joined by 10 members from Winnipeg-based Archangel Fireworks, which leads the process of organizing and setting up the shows on the English Bay barge each year. Archangel Fireworks’ role is equivalent to the responsibilities Basihan and his team had for the Manila event.

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 Postmedia’s Harold Munro.

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.

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

The final show of the Honda Celebration of Light is traditionally the busiest of the three nights for crowds, with upwards of 500,000 attendees expected for the beaches and parks in and near English Bay.

The Weather Network’s forecast for Saturday calls for mainly sunny conditions throughout the day, with a temperature high of 23°C. By showtime at 10 pm, the skies will be mainly clear, with temperatures dropping to 18°C, and winds reaching up to 17 km/hr, blowing eastward.

The tide will be relatively high by showtime; low tide on Saturday is 9:39 am at 0.8 metres, increasing to 4.3 metres by 5:40 pm and dropping slightly to 3.8 metres by 9:57 pm, at which point the rising tide cycle will begin. This is an important consideration for overall beach capacity and anyone who is looking to arrive early to save their spot on the beach.

The running time for each of the three shows is 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 early will also be able to enjoy the pre-fireworks entertainment of the Red Bull Air Show starting at 7:40 pm. And to the west of Burrard Street Bridge, the False Creek Ferries fleet will perform their water ballet sequence just before the fireworks begin.

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.

Honda Celebration of Light fireworks 2023

Schedule and nations:
- Saturday, July 22: Australia 🇦🇺, represented by Howard & Sons
  - With pre-fireworks Red Bull Air Show at 7:40 pm
- Wednesday, July 26: Mexico 🇲🇽, represented by Grupo Avacon
  - With pre-fireworks Red Bull Air Show at 7:40 pm
- Saturday, July 29: The Philippines 🇵🇭, represented by Blue Peacock
  - With pre-fireworks Red Bull Air Show at 7:40 pm
Fireworks Time: 10 pm to 10:25 pm (25-minute fireworks 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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