News: Unique fireworks show planned for Capital Ex finale

Published in the August 1st issue of The Edmonton Sun. News


Unique fireworks show planned for Capital Ex finale

LINDA HOANG
Edmonton Sun

Fairgoers attending the final day of Capital EX on Sunday are in for the most unique fireworks show to grace the skies above the midway grounds this year, says the fireworks organizer.

“Finale night is distinct,” said Dan Roy, owner of Big Bang Fireworks Inc., the company in charge of putting on the nightly Capital EX light show. “It’s unique. It will be different from the other shows and it’s bigger.”

So far this year, those remaining on the grounds until 11 p.m. were treated to a six minute-long, musical fireworks performance, where the colourful lights and flashes launched and popped in time with pop and rock tunes.

The closing night fireworks will feature a musical set and fireworks design not yet used at this year’s EX, and the skies will also be lit up from four different locations compared to the one launch site of past shows.

“We’re firing from four different positions and it’s going to be a lot closer to the public,” Roy said. “You’re going to see a very diverse array of colours and noises.”

Although each show at this year’s exhibition so far have lasted about six minutes, Roy said preparation takes much longer.

“You’re looking at an hour to three hours of design time to conceptually come up with a minute of the show,” he said. “The on-site (set up) work takes us three or four hours.”

But some fairgoers think the shows should be even longer than six minutes.

“They need to make them longer and more exciting,” said Clinton Dickson, who visited the grounds with his friends on Saturday.

Roy assures, however, that a short, quality fireworks presentation is better than a longer one.

“We base it on creating a lot of impact,” he said. “I’d rather have a short show with super high impact than a longer one.”

“Hit them (the fireworks audience) hard. Hit them well and then let them get on with their night.”

However because Sunday’s show is the last, it has been designed to last a bit longer than the ones before it.

Only one fireworks show has failed to launch at Capital EX this year.

Severe wind forced Roy and his team to postpone Thursday’s fireworks so Saturday night was to feature two shows back-to-back. The grand fireworks finale is at 11 p.m. Sunday.

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