Sunday, December 19, 2010

Vulcan Awarded Runner-up of Oman World Fireworks Championship!

At the Presentation Dinner tonight, Vulcan was awarded 2nd Prize in the 2010 Oman World Fireworks Championship! As part of the 40th National Day Celebrations of the Sultanate of Oman, and the largest fireworks event ever held in the Middle East, last night's display by France was the last of 6 international fireworks displays held over the last 2 weeks. Australia, USA, England, France, Italy and China were represented.



Here is what the Judges said about our display:

"That high standard was established from the very first seconds by the first competitor, Vulcan Fireworks from China. From the moment they filled the sky with huge synchronised shell bursts as they began their display we, the jury, knew we were seeing a display of the highest international standards. The scale, power and intensity of the aerial display was awesome. The quality of the material was excellent, and included effects which none of the jury, not even the technical judges, had seen before. The Vulcan display was a terrific start to the competition, and set a very high benchmark for other competitors to follow."


Mubarak Al Busaidi, Ewan Cheung and Mark Wooding.

Vulcan would like to thank the Organizers of the World Fireworks Championship for inviting us to participate in this exciting competition!

A video of our display can be seen here:

Vulcan | Oman World Fireworks Championship 2010 HD from Vulcan Fireworks on Vimeo.


A Behind the Scene Video Magazine from the Luxury Channel about Vulcan at the World Fireworks Championship.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Shogun Aquatic Fireworks

We get lots of requests for Aquatic Fireworks. In addition to our Vulcan range of Aquatic Minebags, we have the Shogun range of Aquatic Fireworks.

Here are videos of 5 SHOGUN Aquatic Fireworks!!

36 Shot Watercake: Flower Crown to Blue


36 shot Water Cake Butterfly


36 shot Water Cake Red Green Blue Flares


36 Shot Watercake Blue Mine Red Crossettes


6" Watershell - Silver Gerb / Blue Flares

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

The Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque - Muscat, Oman

The Grand Mosque in Muscat Oman took 6 years to build and was inaugurated by His Majesty the Sultan in 2001.



The entire site covers 416,000 square metres with The Mosque complex covering 40,000 square metres. It can accommodate up to 20,000 worshippers.

The interior of the Grand Mosque is lavishly decorated with marble adorned with ceramic floral patterns. The ceilings are inspired by Omani forts. The dome comprises a series of ornate, engraved stained glass triangles within a framework of marble columns, and a Swarovski crystal chandelier with gold-plated metalwork hangs down for a length of 14 meters.

A major feature of the main prayer hall is the hand-made Persian carpet consisting of 1,700 million knots, weighing 21 tonnes and made in a single piece measuring 70 x 60 metres. It took 4 years, 600 female weavers from province of Khurasan in Iran to complete.



Photos by Ewan Cheung

Bad News ... It's Snowing in Liuyang ..

It has started snowing in Liuyang, which is not good news, as it means production will slow down and workers will not show up for work ... This makes delivery even worst in light of the dwindling fireworks workforce experienced by factories in both Hunan, Guangxi and Jiangxi.










Oman 2010 World Fireworks Championships : VULCAN : The Luxury Channel

This clip is part of a documentary made by the Luxury Channel on the Oman World Fireworks Championships 2010.

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Friday, December 10, 2010

Photos from Vulcan's Opening Display in Oman

Photos taken by Ahmed S Al-Harthy


Pixie Dust shells


Green Glitter Palms with Orange Pistils and Blue Zipper Cake.


Custom made 100 shots Jet Propulsions all fired simultaneously, salutes shells, hammer boxes, with 4" diamond screamer minebags and Silver Kamuro shells.


18mm Comet Cakes in purple, yellow, white, blue, green, orange and red.
Jellyfish shells (red peony with silver go getters)


White Glittering Willow with Red Mine modulars, Red to Green Peony Shells, Salutes, and Red and Green bombards with silver tail modulars.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Oman World Fireworks Championship 2010

Vulcan kick started the Oman World Fireworks Championship on 6th December in Al Qurum Natural Park, Muscat, Oman with an awesome display!







As part of the celebration for the 40th National Day of the Sultanate of Oman, six Competitors from around the world will compete for in the Championship. Keep up to date on the competition here.



Thank you to the whole Vulcan Team (Steffen Braunlich, Danny van Leeuwen, John Werner, Gilles Keyser, Erik, Cindy, Ricky and Steven) and Laurent Jéfaut, Keith Hill and Jon Webb, for all their hard work and great memories during the 4 days of set up.

The 22 minute display titled HARMONY consisted of 3699 cues, 260 different effects, and over 4000 shells from 2.5" to 7". Designed by John Werner and Cindy Cheung, scripted and fired with the Galaxis wireless firing system.

Video of the display can be seen on Vimeo

Thursday, October 28, 2010

'76 Pyro Magazine - Haga Article | Summer Edition 2010

In the 3rd edition of INTERVIEWS OF PROMINENT PEOPLE IN THE WORLD OF PYROTECHNICS, Cindy Cheung interviews HAGA Fireworks! For the full article with photos, purchase a copy from '76 pyro!

'76 Pyro is a glossy full colour informative fireworks magazine published by 76 Pyro in the USA. For subscription details, please visit www.76pyro.com

Haga Fireworks is located in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture in Northeast Japan. The Haga family has a lengthy history in the production of ammunition, with their ancestors serving as Gunnery Master for the Date Clan (the local Government) in the 17th Century. The founder of the company, Yutara Haga, started his business manufacturing guns and ammunition in 1949, later diversifying into manufacturing consumer fireworks, and then aerial display fireworks.

Haga Fireworks is currently the largest manufacturer of display shells in Japan with two factories located near Sendai and Iwate. Shizuka Haga (Sei Haga), son of Yutara Haga, is the 18th generation of the Haga family now in charge of Haga Fireworks since 1980. Their factory produces display shells for the Japanese market and is renowned for their excellent craftsmanship and quality.

Haga Fireworks has won major prizes in numerous Japanese fireworks competitions such as the Outstanding Award for Creative Fireworks at the Tsuchiura Fireworks Competition and Award for Creative Starmine at Omargari. Haga Fireworks represented Asia in the 2000 Sydney Games Closing Ceremony, and contributed display shells to the Closing Ceremony of the 2002 Winter Olympics at Salt Lake City. They have also produced displays in China, Germany, Canada, Australia, Thailand, USA, Hong Kong, Russia and in the Philippines. Haga Fireworks represented Japan last year at the Liuyang International Fireworks Festival.

What fireworks do you manufacture in your factory?
Shizuka Haga: Mainly aerial display fireworks in our factories. We have a staff of 30 working here. During the summer, we have over 120 workers for our firework displays. Overall, we make about 200,000 shells a year. 60% are for our own use and 40% for wholesale.

What are you most famous effects?
H: We specialize in traditional Japanese styles such as Chrysanthemum, Kamuro, Silver Kamuro and so on. Our spangles are also very colorful, sharp and bright.

How many days in total does it take to make a 12” shell from start to finish?

H: About 30 days. It depends on the kind of shell, though.

Which competitions do you participate in Japan each year? Which competitions are the most important for you?

H: We participate in more than 10 competitions each year. The most important competitions are Tsuchiura in Ibaraki Prefecture (which is under 2 hours from Tokyo by train), and Omagari,which is located in Akita (about 3 hours drive from Sendai).

Firework competitions in Japan seem very different than in the West. Can you explain what happens during a typical fireworks competition?
H: There are mainly three categories: 12” shells, star mines and designed shells. Compared to competitions in other countries, each shell’s quality is perhaps emphasized more. In big competitions, 30 to 50 companies participate!

When was the first time you travelled to China? What kinds of changes have you seen over the years in Chinese fireworks?
H: I first travelled to China more than 27 years ago and I offered to show the Chinese our Japanese style techniques. That helped me establish a solid fireworks foundation there. Today, those factories have multiplied and become global. The quality is inconsistent, however. Various factors are responsible, like weather, for example (especially humidity),and the skills of technicians, their raw materials, work attitudes, culture and so on.

Do you have a motto?
H: There is no limit to fireworks creation.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Oman World Fireworks Championship 2010



Vulcan are delighted to have been selected to represent Hong Kong in the Oman World Fireworks Championship 2010.

The World Fireworks Championship will take place in December 2010 in Muscat, capital of the Sultanate of Oman, as part of Oman's 40th National Day Celebrations. It will feature six of the world's top pyrotechnic production companies, all competing to become Oman World Champion.

You can find out more about the Oman World Fireworks Championship 2010 here. Vulcan will be performing on 6th December.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Vulcan - Hannover, Germany 2010 Photos

All photos by Christoph Maier (www.pyrophotos.com)

To see more photos, join Shogun | Vulcan on Facebook !







Friday, September 24, 2010

NFA Expo Springfield, MO 2011 Photos

It was probably the most attended Expo in NFA's history. Here are some photos of the Shogun booth at the NFA Tradeshow. See you next year in Stevens Point, WI!



Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Vulcan Takes the Runners-up Spot at the 20th International Fireworks Competition in Hannover, Germany

In the special 20th Edition of the International Fireworks Competition in Hannover, Germany, past winners were invited back to compete for the title. In yesterday's final, Vulcan was awarded 2nd Place! We are very proud to have returned to Hannover this year to defend our title as Winner of 2009.

Unfortunately, the weather was not on our side with high humidity and low wind resulting in dense smoke.




Photos from Michael Beck / Hannoveriche Allgemeine.

Thank you to the Hannover Tourism Board and Ernst Rohr GmBH for inviting us to participate again this year.

This year we had yet again, an international crew of Chinese, Germans, French, Dutch and Americans! The show was designed and scripted by Cindy Cheung and John Werner on Pyrotec Composer by Galaxis-Showtechnik. Galaxis-Showtechnik's wireless firing system PFC Advanced was used (http://www.firing-system.com) to fire the show. All fireworks used were produced in our Vulcan display factories in Guangxi, China.



A big THANK YOU to the entire Vulcan crew and Galaxis-Showtechnik for making the show a success!


Mark Boeken, Steffen Braunlich (and his BBQ!), Uwe Braunlich, Alex Buchner, Kelly Chan, Cindy Cheung, Roelof Dik, Charles Germain, Eelco Hoekstra, Gilles Keyser, Steven Huang, Grant Luckenbill, Craig Newswanger, Phil Sandmeyer, Danny van Leeuwen, Elwin van den Berg, Erik Vermeulen, Joe Wan, John Werner, Kin Zheng and Nick from Ernst Rohr.

Wheels and Setpieces



BBQ



Diamond Wall and Fronts



Below is the edited 10 minute version. Video by Markus Klatt.

Friday, September 10, 2010

The Container Company (TCC) accepts fireworks containers from Taicang port to Los Angeles

In March 2010, the shipping venture TCC launched a weekly trans-Pacific service from Taicang, near Shanghai to Los Angeles. The Norwegian-based company plans to launch an Asia to Europe service later this year.

This week, it will start accepting fireworks containers on its vessels to LA. Containers will be loaded in Hunan and feeder services managed by Dragon Two, the logistics company that ran the fireworks operation in Huangpu port before the Sanshui incident in 2008.

TCC offers a point-to-point service that is much simpler than the complex networks of its competitors. Its ships will sail straight from Taicang to Los Angeles and back, instead of making multiple port calls. However, it will not offer onshore logistics services.

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

International Fireworks Association announces opening of Wuzhou port

It was officially announced by the IFA on 3rd September 2010 that Wuzhou port has opened for handling of fireworks containers from China via Hong Kong.

Wuzhou port is located near the border of Guangxi and Guangdong province. The port is managed by Sinotrans of China. For shipment of fireworks, Wuzhou is only a transit port without any warehouse facilities. Containers must be loaded in either Hunan or Jiangxi with export customs documentation and inspection completed at place of loading. Once the containers arrive by truck to Wuzhou and paperwork re-declared to show export from Wuzhou, the containers will be placed on barges on transit to Hong Kong.

The advantage of Wuzhou is the reduced time from loading of containers to departure on mother vessels. Compared to 10-14 days for shipments out of Shanghai, Wuzhou will only take 7-8 days. Furthermore, the water route to Hong Kong is a river inlet, avoiding delays caused by typhoons and low water level.

Friday, September 3, 2010

5 more days to NFA Expo, Springfield, Missouri, USA!!

It's not too late to make your plans to visit Springfield, MO for the annual National Fireworks Association's Expo next week!

Details can be downloaded here for registration:

http://nationalfireworks.org/expo.shtml

Drop by our booth at the Tradeshow on Friday 10th September & Saturday 11th September from 12pm - 4pm or email us at cindycheung@shogun.com.hk to make a meeting outside Tradeshow hours.

This year at the NFA Tradeshow, we are proud to be sharing our booth with Galaxis Showtechnik from Germany! Galaxis manufactures fully integrated wireless solutions to indoor, outdoor displays and SFX. They will be launching their FCC-approved firing system at the NFA for the first time in the USA!!

PFC advanced Controller

PFE Advanced 10 Outputs

Matrix Module for PFE Advanced - You will get a fully featured receiver with 50 or 100 outputs simply by applying the pluggable Matrix Module. If you are using the Matrix Module you can still program every single output individually with virtually no restrictions..

You can read more about the advantages of their system here http://www.firing-system.com/vorteile.htm. If you are looking to invest in a quality wireless system, definitely drop by to see their system yourself at our booth!!

We will be using the Galaxis system for our show at the 20th International Hannover Fireworks Competition next month!

Saturday, August 28, 2010

International Symposium on Fireworks, Porto, Portugal 2010

Vulcan will have a tradeshow booth at the Symposium from October 11 - 15, 2010 in Porto. If you have not made plans to visit Porto already, full details about the Symposium can be found at www.isfireworks.com.

The International Symposium on Fireworks is held every 18 months since 1992, bringing together people from around the world from pyrotechnic backgrounds, to provide a platform to share in the latest technology, scientific studies and regulatory aspects of fireworks.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

EX numbers will no longer have an expiry date

Recently PHMSA announced EX numbers will no longer have a 5 year expiry date which was introduced in 2009. As a result, expiring EX numbers will no longer need to renewed and EX numbers already issued will not have an expiry date.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

High Temperatures in Northern China

As of today all factories in Liuyang are ordered to stop working for a period of 20 days due to extreme high temperatures.

The authorities give the possibility to a very limited amount of factories to apply for a special permission to continue production during this period.
We are trying to get such a permission for our own factories and expect this process to take approximately 10 days.

Hopefully we will get the permission and can continue the production in our Liuyang factories after 10 days but nevertheless delays in deliveries are to be expected.
We will try our best to keep the delays to a minimum and will keep you updated on the status of your orders.

It is very likely that the Liling Hunan, and Jiangxi provincial government will follow and call a halt to all fireworks production.

Note that Guangxi government normally will not issue such order, and so our factories in Guangxi are producing as scheduled.

Monday, August 2, 2010

COMING SOON .. All new SHOGUN VULCAN website!

The new site will consolidate all our products into an easy searchable database!! Customers will be able to download test reports for all their products, which will be kept on our host server, accessible 24 hours a day!

Hot weather hits northern China, fireworks production delayed

The heatwave continues in northern China with Beijing having recorded more than 10 days with temperatures above 35 degrees Celsius (or 95 degrees Fahrenheit) during the month of July, according to the National Meteorological Center of China.

This coming week in Liuyang, Hunan, the temperature is expected to remain in highs of 38-40 degrees Celsius (or 101-104 degrees Fahrenheit). As soon as the temperature reaches 32 degrees Celsius (or 90 degrees Fahrenheit), all fireworks production involving mixing of chemicals must stop. Assembly of fireworks is stopped when temperature reaches 35 degrees Celsius (or 95 degrees Fahrenheit)

Thursday, July 22, 2010

For Sale at PGI Appleton - 13 Prong Single Shot Aluminum Racks

Spirit of 76 will be selling these at their booth at next month's PGI Convention in Appleton.



There were used in our competition in Hanover, Germany last year and below is the effect you can achieve with these racks!!


Vulcan 50mm lemon, orange, red, purple, blue, green mines and silvery cascade comet were mounted on each rack.

For more information and pre-ordering, please contact Spirit of 76 at www.76fireworks.com!! Spirit of 76 will also have a new smaller version with 7 prongs at the PGI Convention!

Monday, June 28, 2010

Wishing everyone a Happy July 4th and a safe one ..

To help consumers use fireworks more safely, the CPSC offers these recommendations:

* Do not allow young children to play with fire-works under any circumstances. Sparklers, considered by many the ideal "safe" firework for the young, burn at very high temperatures and can easily ignite clothing. Children cannot understand the danger involved and cannot act appropriately in case of emergency.

* Older children should only be permitted to use fireworks under close adult supervision. Do not allow any running or horseplay.

* Light fireworks outdoors in a clear area away from houses, dry leaves or grass and flammable materials.

* Keep a bucket of water nearby for emergencies and for pouring on fireworks that don't go off.

* Do not try to relight or handle malfunctioning fireworks. Douse and soak them with water and throw them away.

* Be sure other people are out of range before lighting fireworks.

* Never ignite fireworks in a container, especially a glass or metal container.

* Keep unused fireworks away from firing areas.

* Store fireworks in a dry, cool place. Check instructions for special storage directions.

* Observe local laws.

* Never have any portion of your body directly over a firework while lighting.

* Don't experiment with homemade fireworks

Here are some fireworks safety videos:

Sparklers Safety



General Fireworks Safety

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Guangxi Fireworks Factory stop work

As a result of an accident on 14th April in a fireworks factory in Hepu, Guangxi, all fireworks factories in Guangxi have been ordered to stop production until further investigation.

廣西合浦花炮廠發生爆炸 2死2傷 聽眾來信
推薦給朋友
2010年4月14日 星期三

4月14日,廣西北海市合浦縣一家花炮廠發生爆炸事故,事故造成2人死亡,另有2人受傷。
據大陸媒體報道,14日5時45分左右,合浦縣鐵山港花炮廠上藥工房發生爆炸,繼而引發和藥工房發生爆炸,事故導致2人死亡,2人受 傷。目前,兩名傷員已被送往合浦縣醫院救治。

合浦縣是廣西著名的煙花炮竹生產地,事故原因正在調查中

Monday, January 18, 2010

Which is faster - a motorbike, a golf ball, or a firework?

This video is from the British TV show Brainiac: Science Abuse. Season 2, Episode 5 – Aired: 9/30/2004

In this episode, Richard Hammond races a Honda Fireblade against rocket (a R4000W Vulcan made for Fantastic Fireworks, UK) and a golf ball ....