Back in the Fox Cities for the third time, the Pyrotechnics Guild International is wrapping up its annual convention today.
From its start Saturday, it has entertained convention-goers and the public. The convention is based at the Radisson Paper Valley Hotel in Appleton, but PGI also has been putting on fireworks displays and competitions at Wisconsin International Raceway in Buchanan.
Aaron Enzer, PGI’s communications chairman, talked about the convention Thursday in an interview shown live at www.postcrescent. com.
Here’s an edited transcript of the interview:
How were things looking out at the track on Thursday?
Certainly there was a lot of water but everybody pitched together as a team and we were able to remedy the situation. The water was there for a few hours but then it went away and we were able to continue on. But the delays that were caused for some of the setup crews meant that they had to postpone Wednesday night’s activities.
We have very professional crews. They anticipate harsh weather. That was to the extreme what we encountered out there but they have all their fireworks covered up with plastic and have them protected from the water and the elements very well. The biggest thing was they didn’t get the time they expected to set up.
Rather than shoot a show that’s incomplete or not quite right, it’s better to give them the extra time so we can see what they’ve really designed and see the best shows possible.
What can people expect to see at a show?
We’ve been here three times now and those who have attended in the past know they’re going to see some really fantastic shows. For people who have never attended before and think this is just another fireworks show, well, it’s way off.
These are the people who are passionate about fireworks. They love fireworks. And now they’re in a group of their peers, trying to one-up each other. They’re pushing the limits of what they can create.
So you’re going to see fireworks shows that you would never see in a normal municipal display. You’re going to see fireworks that really aren’t commercially viable, but these people aren’t about the money. They’re about the passion of loving fireworks.
So while there’s an experimental factor involved, there are safety factors, too, right?
All of the fireworks in our competition are actually manufactured by members. Most of those members don’t manufacture for any kind of a commercial fireworks company. These are fireworks that they manufacture and design, often pushing the limits of what fireworks can possibly do.
Then what we do is, because these fireworks aren’t a commercial product that’s produced by the thousands, we take a lot of extra safety precautions. We move them a lot farther away than something that’s a proven, reliable item. We put them way up on the hill.
The other thing we do is we have containers up on the hill and the fireworks are shot from behind there. So that way, if anything does happen that’s unexpected, those containers act as a barricade and a shield.
We love fireworks. Sometimes it’s spectacular even when they don’t work right. But end of the day, we want to make sure everybody’s safe. That’s the absolute most important.
Can you talk more about the one-up factor?
There’s one part where there’s actually judged competition. They have different categories and classes of different types of fireworks and everybody’s competing to be the best in that category.
So you’ll see people that will take literally months to construct some of these fireworks items that you’ll only get to see for 10 or 15 or 20 seconds. It’s just amazing some of the things we’ve seen at each PGI convention.
What are they judged on?
They’ll judge it on kind of an overall “wow” factor. Was the item, compared to other items in that class, impressive? They’ll look for more technical details, like if it’s a shell, did the shell go all the way up and almost stop in the sky so it’s suspended there and then break apart?
They also look for shells that have color changes. When they change color, do they all change color at the same time? They’ll also look for the symmetry of the shell. If it’s supposed to be a round shell, did it break nice and round?
So they have all these artistic, subjective types of things and then more of the technical detail types of things that they’re looking for.
The competition is a very big part of what the PGI is about. It’s not the part that necessarily is as appealing to the public because it’s one at a time. We’re going to shoot one item and we’re going to look at it. We’re going to shoot another item and we’re going to look at it. But it’s some of the most spectacular fireworks you’re ever going to see.
It’s not the big display. It’s not filling the sky up. But it certainly is some of the nicest product you’re going to see.
Every night, whether there’s a show or not, there’s open shooting. What’s that about?
Open shooting is an opportunity for members to bring whatever they’d like to bring or possibly purchase fireworks and then they can go out and can shoot them.
They can do it just for the fun of doing it, to evaluate the product. Maybe it’s a competitor who wants to try some new things out before putting them in competition. So open shooting is exactly that.
Is the show Friday night considered sort of a grand finale?
We always have our big displays and some additional events, like our mega-string and super-string, which are giant assemblies of firecrackers. The mega-string is like this big curtain of firecrackers. The super-string is about a two-foot-diameter-big snake of firecrackers. So there’s a whole bunch of activities planned for Friday, including three choreographed music displays.
How many people are here for the convention?
The last count I had is over 2,000 people.
What’s going on at the hotel?
There’s a lot of seminars. They’re talking about all kinds of topics, like how do you design a fireworks show to some of the chemistry that goes into the fireworks to how you comply with rules and best practices to keep yourself safe.
There’s typically two or three seminars going on continuously from about 9 in the morning to 5 or 6 p.m.
Another large part of it is the trade show. We have a member-to-member trade show where we have vendors selling a variety of products, from fireworks T-shirts to the firing systems that shoot fireworks. That’s a large portion of the hotel activities.
This is PGI’s third time here and you’re coming back in 2014 and, tentatively, 2018. What makes this a good site?
It’s a variety of things. One of the things we look for is an area where we can draw a lot of the public in to see what our activities are. If we truly held a private event, with all the racket we make out there at WIR, it wouldn’t be tolerated nearly as well. But we certainly bring in a lot of entertainment factor as well and Friday, we expect a sellout crowd. So we’re able to fill approximately 14,000 seats out there.
It’s a good site from a perspective of having a venue that’s used to having traffic in and out like the racetrack. It’s a nice site from the standpoint of the regulators. The state and local authorities work with us well. We have hotels that are not very far away from the convention site.
The other big attraction for us here is that this is a great area for families to explore.