The Maltese team is quite spectacular, and Nick Spiteri takes part in ‘98% of the shows' back at home. Nick has been a frequent guest in Russia and this weekend's event is far from his first festival in the country:
"I think it's about my 8th or 10th time here. Every time I am in Russia, it's always a great experience. As I can see, fireworks in Russia are getting bigger and bigger. Of course, one can't start running before learning how to walk, and that's how I see the fireworks in Russia: the technicians are learning and some success has been achieved, and some things should yet be learned."
Fireworks are more than about pyrotechnics, they're about what's known as ‘choreography', and today that's done with software that helps coordinate the music with the visual part of the show. After it's all planned out, the technician uses different software to ‘match the fireworks with the equipment' and calculate what would work better for the show.
"Then there's the fieldwork, which means bringing the fireworks, assigning the mortars to particular locations, connecting the lighters, and eventually firing."
All the choreography is planned in advance, and the show can take 600 times longer to prepare than it lasts:
"Once I hear the music, I start imagining how and which fireworks would go along with it, and search for them. Normally 1 minute of fireworks takes about 10 hours of choreography."
And, of course, safety comes first:
"The first thing I've learned as a technician is safety. It concerns everything starting from the type of clothes you are wearing. Of course, you should have some sense: don't smoke cigarettes or use a lighter near the equipment."
Some pyrotechnicians focus solely on this line of work, but Nick prefers to keep a ‘day job' and benefit from it, too:
"Fireworks is my hobby. Strictly speaking, I also have an MA in IT, so I tend to combine shooting fireworks with technology."
The performances of this year's competitors will take roughly 10-15 spectacular minutes each and will be showing off mostly local, Russian pyrotechnics, since it's dangerous and difficult for the teams to transport all the equipment from their countries.
The annual Pyrofest taking place in Moscow this weekend will see performances from 8 countries: Malta, Russia, Kazakhstan, Estonia, France, China and Azerbaijan, and they seem to be looking forward to the show as much as the audience:
"I take every show as a new challenge. Everything doesn't always go smoothly, but that's why we are professionals," Nick told Sputnik.
