In a city of St. Albert’s size, it’s simply not possible to give every resident a glass of champagne to toast with as the new year commences.
Instead, to dazzle its citizens, the city opts for fireworks.
Fortunately, they do a pretty stellar job — and the planning it takes to pull off the fireworks display is almost as impressive as the show itself.
The city contracts Edmonton-based Aerial Fireworks to light up the night sky. The company, which procures its fireworks from across Canada, has been supplying fireworks for St. Albert’s New Years Eve and Canada Day celebrations since 2004. Starting in 2012 the company received a contract to design, choreograph, set up and shoot the fireworks.
Between navigating the permit process, signing safety documents and choreographing the show, Aerial Fireworks can spend more than a month preparing for a single display.
“[It] can take upward of one hour of choreography for each minute of the display,” said Rick Simpson, co-owner of Aerial Fireworks.
Simpson follows a few rules to make sure the fireworks have a visual impact.
First, they must explode at different elevations. This is to create a layered effect, and it also prevents smoke from diffusing the colours.
A good fireworks display also requires a solid understanding of how the human eye works, according to Simpson.
“We try to build colour palettes,” he said. “So that you're not mixing hot colours and cold colours.”
Hot colours like red, orange and yellow will strip cool colours such as purple, blue and green of their vibrancy, he said.
Picking the right fireworks takes a cultivated eye for the explosive.
Every year Aerial Fireworks reviews the fireworks authorized for use within Canada and chooses the effects they believe will be the most aesthetically pleasing for their clients, Simpson said.
“We look at richness of colour, and how reliable it is. If it’s got failures on it, we don’t use it. But the biggest thing is the effect, because you can have three or four different effects within a fireworks show.”
On New Year's Eve, Aerial Fireworks has a crew of about five or six employees on site. Every member of the team has explosives certifications. They “use specially designed equipment and computer choreography software to electronically fire each display,” Simpson said.
The shells used at the New Year's Eve celebration have a burst height of 500 feet, a “safe zone” for any aircraft that may pass by.
Being a good pyrotechnician also means keeping up to date with the craft.
In 2023, the company went to both the LaRonde International Fireworks Competition in Montreal and the Globalfest International Fireworks Competition in Calgary to see new products.
They also worked on displays at international competitions, and recently the company’s president and CEO was elected to the executive board of directors of the Canadian Pyrotechnic Council as the council’s new secretary, allowing the company to compare techniques and products with other players in the industry.
“We like viewers to see some type of artistry, which I mean, that's purely a personal thing," Simpson said.
