This new book, with over 180 illustrations and over 50 tables of data, is designed for firework display firers, designers and event organisers of outdoor events using firework to enable them to get the most from the fireworks they use and to learn about planning of the events that they do now and in the future. It will also be useful, we hope, to the designers of such events and also event producers – if nothing more than to assist them in taking a common language to the firers!
The core readership of the book will be that wide variety of people who use fireworks in more than just a domestic way. This covers the enthusiastic amateur firer who wants to get the most from the fireworks they are legally able to purchase all the way up to the seasoned professional who would all benefit from having more information about the ways other people plan and use fireworks to the greatest effect.
The book begins with a chapter on the history of firework displays and then describes in detail the types of firework, firework effects, and types of displays. In these sections there is much general information to set the scene for the following chapters which form the “meat” of the book and includes many newly drawn diagrams of firework types and descriptions of the effects that are produced both from an aesthetic and from a safety point of view.
The next part of the book includes sections on display safety, risk assessment, fallout issues and the planning and rigging of the display site itself. These include an extended chapter on the research on mortar rack safety.
The next sections focus on getting the most from the display – display design and choosing the appropriate fireworks including basic colour theory and the authors’ design philosophies. There are also sections on electric firing, and the synchronisation of fireworks and music.
Inevitably and properly there are sections on legal issues, International standards and the environmental effects of fireworks as well as a chapter on what happens when things do not go to plan.
The book concludes with chapters highlighting case studies of displays, small and large, that the author has been involved with over the last 20 years and the likely developments in fireworks and displays in the near future.
Tom Smith is well known in the firework industry, having worked at Kimbolton Fireworks in the UK for 10 years before setting up an independent explosive consultancy and working around the World as pyrotechnic consultant to the Athens Olympics, the Melbourne Commonwealth Games, the London Millennium and London New Year’s Eve displays – each of which is discussed within the case study section of the book.
Other contributors are Darryl Fleming, Tom’s successor at Kimbolton Fireworks, Chris Pearce and Andy Wiggins from Jubilee Fireworks, Rodney Clarke from FireOne, Martin Smith (Tom’s brother and in charge of one of the largest November 5th celebrations in the UK), Jim Donald (Producer of the London New Year’s Eve displays for many years), Andrew Walsh (Founder of Accolade Events in Australia and producer of many of the World’s largest events) and Murray Torrible (whose firm Precision Broking insures many of the World’s largest display companies).
Chapter 2 – History of firework displays
Chapter 3 – Firework types and effects
Chapter 4 – Display types
Chapter 5 – Safety issues and risk assessment
Chapter 6 – Planning the display site
Chapter 7 – Fallout
Chapter 8 – Rigging the display
Chapter 9 – A Study of Shell Failures and Mortar Rack Construction Methods
Chapter 10 – Choosing the right fireworks
Chapter 11 – Display design
Chapter 12 – Legal issues
Chapter 13 – International standards
Chapter 14 – The environmental effects of fireworks
Chapter 15 – Firework competitions
Chapter 16 – Pyromusicals and broadcast events
Chapter 17 – Electrical firing basics
Chapter 18 – Firing systems review
Chapter 19 – Case studies – small and medium scale events
Chapter 20 – Case studies – very large scale events
Chapter 21 – Future developments
Chapter 22 – What happens when it goes wrong?
Chapter 23 – Conclusions
Bibilography
Index
List of Tables
List of Figures
References
