A scene from last year’s
exciting International Fireworks Festival.
Urasin Khantaraphan
Four new countries will compete to see who can put on the best
pyrotechnics show as the Pattaya International Fireworks Competition returns
for a fifth year this weekend.
Teams from Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom will dazzle Pattaya
Beach with their rockets’ red glare Friday and Saturday night during a
day-long street festival that also includes food, music and entertainment.
Friday’s festivities begin and 3:30 p.m. and run through 11 p.m. while
Saturday runs from 5 p.m. until 1 a.m. Beach Road will be closed to traffic
both days from 3:30-11 p.m. and all side streets from Second Road will be
blocked.
The fireworks themselves begin at 9 p.m. each day with the show split into
the parts. Two competitors will put on individual shows of 20-25 minutes
each night beginning at 9 p.m. Then, at 10 p.m., the teams not competing
that night will put on a short demonstration at 10 p.m.
VIP seating will be available and booths selling food and other souvenirs
will be open around the Central Road intersection and along the beach.
Entertainment includes a parade, stage shows, concerts, magic and juggling
acts and 3D painting photography starting at 5 p.m. both days.
At a Nov. 24 planning meeting, Deputy Mayor Wattana Chantanawaranon laid out
plans for traffic, security and fire coverage. Fire trucks will be stationed
at three locations between Central Road and Bali Hai Pier and four rescue
boats will be waiting offshore in case of fires.
This year’s show marks the third year in a row in which host country
Thailand will not participate. Last year saw teams from Japan, the
Philippines, Switzerland and Taiwan paint the sky in a rainbow of colors.
Originally designed as a two-year Ministry of Defense competition to honor
Their Majesties the King and Queen, the International Fireworks Competition
kicked off in Thongthani in December 2009. Pattaya held two rounds of the
event, in August 2010 and, after a month’s delay due to the national
flooding crisis, December 2011. Teams from Australia, China, Denmark,
Germany, Italy, Japan, Philippines, the United Arab Emirates and the United
States faced off against Thailand to see which country could put on the most
dynamic and colorful exhibition.
After losing the Defense Ministry’s sponsorship, the festival continued in
2012 with only four teams and no participation from Thailand, other than the
country donating celebrity “honorary captains” for teams from Canada, China,
Singapore and the United States. Thailand will not participate in this
year’s display as well.
