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Liverpool Fired Up for November 5th
Liverpool Culture Company’s Special Events team excelled themselves with one of the most successful November 5th events ever, staging three spectacular firework displays city-wide which were enjoyed free by over 50,000 people.
Traditionally Liverpool’s 5th November celebrations have been a hectic night. They have been staged in triplicate for some years to allow those all over the city and surrounding areas easy access to the displays.
Usually two displays are park-based with the third on a prominent river site, but this year, due to the radical redevelopment of the City centre, there was nowhere to accommodate the audience for a river display. Instead, LCC took on a new park venue at Temple Newsham in the Tuebrook area. The largest display fired-up in Sefton Park, drawing some 30,000 enthusiastic visitors who soaking up the good vibes. The third spectacular was in Walton Hall Park to the north of the city.
All three displays were designed and co-ordinated by Steve Boothman of Fantastic Fireworks, working closely with the Culture Company team including event manager Bill Howard. The 25 minute shows were identical. Sefton Park featured a larger quantity of explosives to cover the wider area and audience viewing space.
Boothman put together a pacey soundtrack based on the theme of performance tying in with the city’s Year of Performance. This encompassed dance music of all types – from Fatboy Slim to Swan lake to Ballroom Blitz - and a miscellany of sporting themes – all essentially ‘performance’ geared.
“We kept the shows basically traditional in look and feel,” explained LCC’s Kirstie Blakeman, “because that’s what people expect on this occasion - it’s very much a family event.”
She adds that it was relatively straightforward in terms of staging, but having three sites meant the challenge was in co-ordinating the staffing and infrastructure needed in each venue.
To add depth to the overall visual image and to enhance the aesthetics and sense of occasion, the trees and foliage in the parks were illuminated this year for the first time - using Studio Due City Color lighting fixtures. These and the sound systems for all three parks were supplied by Manchester based Audile. “The environmental lighting was a big hit with everyone - it gave a more finished and integrated feel to the shows,” affirms Blakeman. The ground stacked PAs were all raised on two-metre high platforms to ensure they projected well into the crowds and right across the viewing areas.
The fireworks themselves contained plenty of multi-colour effects, high aerial arrays and a bit of everything. They were all fired from Pyromate controllers, with Sefton Park featuring a Pyromate Nighthawk digital system, and the others standard analogue systems.
Boothman ran the Sefton show, Andy Howarth ran Walton Park and Charlie Purton ran Temple Newsham.
Generator power for all three sites was supplied by Pyramid, barriers by Event solutions, cabins came from Search, stewards from Paramount and the security was looked after by SES.
7th November 2006
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