We arrived in Valletta, after a maniac taxi driver tried to tell us that our hotel was closed and took us to another. After a bit of a discussion we were delivered to our correct hotel and checked in. Next up, head to the harbour (after a couple of ‘Al Fresco’ beers) to find the action. When we arrive there are barges full of foiled pyro in the harbour, and nine mechanical wheels 5-15 feet high erected on the quay.
We had some time before the show, so a circumnavigation of Valletta was in hand. This revealed the pub where Oliver Reed had his last pint and died after a drunken arm wrestle. At the foot of the wall outside Fort St Elmo there was a tunnel, which we only ventured in a small way because we lost natural light. Being pyro tourists there were lights in our luggage, so this tunnel warranted further investigation later.
The time came to head for the show. First we met up with Toni (Malta fireworks) and then ‘Bigbang’ (UKRA).
Showtime:
First pyro-musical competitive display: ‘Majestic Power’ by the Jubilee Fireworks Co. Ltd. of the United Kingdom
Fine display of incredibly timed ariel and barge based pyro, including some really nice crosettes and six Girendolas flying over the harbour.
A display of traditional ‘One-by-One’ Fireworks
“Multi-break cracker-shells ( murtali tal-beraq ikkuluriti) by Our Lady of Consolation Fireworks Factory – Gudja, Malta
“Multi-break coloured shells (murtali tal-kulur) by the St. Mary Fireworks Factory – Mosta, Malta and the 19th March Fireworks Factory – Rabat, Malta.
All these traditional Maltese shells were fantastic, they lift to an incredible height, with three breaks followed by a bottom shot which shook the harbour
Mechanical ground fireworks by the 15th August Fireworks Factory, Mosta – Malta and Our Lady of Consolation Fireworks Factory, Gudja – Malta
These were just amazing huge structures comprising cogs, wheels, chains, lances and drivers, all within touching distance of the audience. As they rotated, twisted and turned, pieces of flaming quickmatch and exploding drivers flew through the air. The crowd simply parted to allow a fallout area.
Second pyro-musical competitive display: “Dancing Stars over the Water” by the St. Mary Fireworks Factory – Mqabba, Malta.
A brilliant Star wars set with star shells breaking, and writing the word ‘MALTA’ with 40ft mines across the waterfront. But the highlight of this set was the ‘DARK FLASH’ really weird. Just like a normal load flash BUT no visible explosion. Just a black sky with noise.?????
Third pyro –musical competitive display : ‘Reflexus’ by Luso Pirotecnia of Portugal.
Fast paced display with lots of candles, shells, and mines. Nice falling leaf shells and a loud finale.
What a fantastic night! But now was the unenvied trek up the endless slopes and steps to the hotel.
Sunday 30th April
Up at 7am for breakfast, and then out to catch the coach to the firework factories. We would like to give a special thank you at this point to Toni, his son Clint and Joe for organising the trip. Also on the coach were Bigbang and his partner, the boys and girls from Jubilee Fireworks, Orzella, and two really nice guys from Pyrotechnics Guild International San Francisco.
Our first journey lasted only about 20 minuets and took us to St Joseph Firework Factory, Ghaxaq. The welcome we received was fantastic; lots of smiling faces keen to talk pyro. We were free to wander around with our videos and cameras, and talk pyro with the volunteers. The factory comprised of two open compounds, a covered area, a tearoom and six lockups.
For those who don’t know ‘Beraq’ (lightning) is a cylinder about 1” dia by 1.5” long spiked and pasted, side primed with delay and usually filled with chlorate flash.
Lockup 1. Mechanical and set pieces. Girandolas, Maltese cross lance work, wheels, drivers, up to 12” plastic and card hemispheres, one of which was half filled with ‘Beraq’ and 500feet of chain lance work.
Lockup 2. 200bar press, star pumps, drying racks, shells and stars, star sizing tooling and pattern templates.
Lockup 3. 3”-8” mortar shells, 4”-7” cylinder shells, compositions and bags of stars.
Lockup 4. Large finished multibreak shells fitted with pistons and lift charges. The Maltese make a lift charge like a can shell and spike it. Half finished shells with rings of ‘Berak’ for us to look at, and a 15 by 6 foot shelf packed with 3” and 4” finished shells bundled in tens.
Lockup 5. In excess of 4000 finished fireworks in here on shelves and benches.
Lockup 6. Construction materials
In the compound areas there were pasting tables, drying racks (old metal bed frames), priming operations, mortar and frame storage. Not to mention the shed with the noisy cockerel.
Karl and myself split up, but kept bumping into one another to discuss Maltese technique and detail. Karl made good friends with one of the crew, Sam. Sam then arranged a 6” by 2.5ft ‘Berak’ multibreak shell demonstration. A steel mortar fashioned from an old oxygen cylinder was positioned with rocks piled up around it. The shell was inserted and lit. Superb multibreak with large reports. Wow!
It was time to leave St Joseph Fireworks, but not before swapping details with Sam, who said he would come and pick us up tomorrow for a more thorough look around.
Our next stop was Our Lady of Consolation Fireworks Factory, Gudja. Here we found a very similar set-up but a little smaller. One compound with three lockups.
Lockup 1. A massive 19” hemisphere with twenty-four 4” Blue shells inside. This was only one half there were to be forty-eight shells in total. Also here were 7”-8” cylinder shells and 6”-8” ball shells all spiked but waiting pasting.
Lockup 2. ‘Berak’ drying room and multibreak storage.
Lockup 3. Drying room with 2” flash comets, 3”-4” charcoal comets, drying blackmatch, chemicals, stars of various sizes, half finished cylinders with stars wedged in, serpents, time fuse, spoolettes and flash inserts.
In the compound was burst and filler drying in the sun, tube storage pasting facilities and 12” ball shells drying.
We left Our Lady of Consolation Fireworks and headed back to Valletta. Once there it was a case of pick up the lights and head back to the tunnel. We made our way down to the fort and entered the tunnel with headlights on and video running. The first chamber we came across was a disused WW2 gun emplacement, with only a small shaft of light penetrating. It was then down the main tunnel for about 200m, climbing over rocks and old cable. We emerged to dogs barking in a large courtyard, and then realised we were inside Fort St Elmo. We made our way to the upper levels very warily because there was not a sole in sight. After a good look around we emerged from the main gate to a Gatekeeper who was not happy and shouting “No Entry” at us. We made our apologies and went for a beer
. After the beer it was down to the harbour, where stilt walkers and marching bands performed. We meet up with Bigbang and bump into Sam, Jesmond and the rest of the St Joseph crew to watch the show.Showtime:
Fourth pyro-musical display: ‘Illuminating our Grand Harbour” by the St. Michael Fireworks Factory – Lija, Malta
Hugh shell breaks, deafening bottom shots and superb blue comets with gold glitter tails. Multibreak shells with three colour rings ‘Berak’ and micro star rings. We were standing near the boys who made these shell and they were more than happy with the results.
A display of traditional ‘One-by-One’ Fireworks “Multi-break cracker shells” (murtali tal-beraq ikkuluriti) by St. Catherine Fireworks Factory,
Zurrieq, Malta and the Lily Fireworks Factory – Mqabba, Malta
Another fantastic display of traditional Maltese shells.
Ground fireworks by the Lourdes Fireworks Factory of San Gwann, Malta
Mechanical ground fireworks by the La Stella Fireworks Factory – Gudja, Malta
Just as good as yesterdays, nine mechanical wheels. Absolutely amazing engineering. Every part of these is handmade, even the cogs and universal joints. They just look like Kaleidoscopes.
Fifth pyro-musical competitive display: “Flaming flowers over the Mediterranean” by the15th August Fireworks Factory – Mosta, Malta
Red strobes, comets, lovely multibreak shells timed superbly well.
Final and non-competitive pyro-display: “The Power of Fire” by Orzella Fireworks Company, Italy
Ozzella put on a fine display, including parachutes with stars on string suspended beneath, even the parachutes were illuminated with a lance inside. They also floated pyro balloons across the harbour in front of the crowd. Just to top it all, after a breathtaking finale, the tyres on the barges were alight in about for places.
Monday May 1st
May 1st in Malta is Labour Day. We emerged from our hotel to find people everywhere waving red flags and sounding air horns. Huge speaker stacks were erected in Freedom Square ready for the afternoon and evening party. After a walk around and lunch we met with Sam in his pickup truck. Off back to St Joseph Fireworks to talk some pyro. We arrive to find all the boys busy at work pasting, nosing and priming. We walk around taking notes, drawing diagrams and taking measurements. From the factory we can see Sams village which has its flags flying. Sam suggests we go to his village club and we agree. The building is fantastic, all marble, painted frescos and ornate grand entrance stairs. In Malta the villagers are very proud of their heritage, the club was entirely built by volunteers, as are all the fireworks. The firework styles and techniques have been handed down through generations since the 16th century.
Sam then took us off to a party on the NW point of the island, which turned out to be a massive outdoor Rave, with about 8000 people. Karl was ok, but I felt a little old
Here we met the guys from Unionband who we had a great time with. Apparently this rave happens once a month with some of the worlds top D.J’s performing. We make our way home about midnight when we finally find the truck, and hit the sack for the last time.What an amazing weekend. It was great to meet Andy ‘Bigbang’, the people of Malta were fantastic, friendly and most hospitable. We would like to thank everyone who made this a superb holiday.
Paul & Karl
(Photos and video will be uploaded in this section from Karl’s server shortly)
Edited by chemicalwazi, 03 May 2006 - 08:49 PM.
