PyroFest an explosive hit with fans again this year
WORTH TWP — PyroFest returned for its two-day Memorial Day weekend celebration with displays so spectacular that the explosions could be felt through the ground.
While the show is in its fifth year, this was just the second time it has been at Cooper's Lake Campground. The first three festivals were at Hartwood Acres in Allegheny County. Stephen Vitale, president and chief executive officer of Pyrotechnico fireworks company in New Castle, said he was expecting roughly 12,000 people over the two days.
This year's festival was truly an international event, according to Vitale.
“This is the first year that it's truly international,” he said. “We are creating more than an event; we are building a phenomenon that people look forward to year to year.”
This year's event featured fireworks companies from Spain, China and Canada.
On Saturday, “Road Trip Ramble” was displayed by Vulcan Premium Quality Fireworks, a company based in Guangxi, China, which displayed fireworks paired to classic rock songs. That performance previously won the bronze prize at the 2015 L'International des Feux Loto in Montreal, Canada.
For Cindy Cheung, with Vulcan, the opportunity to perform in the United States is wonderful, especially since this display is the first time Vulcan has done a fireworks display in the country, Cheung said.
While the opportunity was amazing, the company does not plan to expand its market to the United States, Cheung said. She also could not say if Vulcan would return to PyroFest since she said other international companies should have the opportunity to show off their work as well.
“It's always the plan to make it bigger, more international,” she said.
After Vulcan's show on Saturday night, the Ricardo Caballer Ricasa Fireworks Production company from Valencia, Spain, presented “Magic Dreams,” a show featuring classical music with “a visual pyro piano, where over 2,800 cues of effects (were) launched as if they were pressing the keys themselves.” The Spanish company has won more than 100 competitions on five continents.
On Sunday, the Sirius Pyrotechnics company from Quebec, Canada, hosted the world premiere of “Eclipse,” featuring music by The Temper Trap and Linkin Park.
Pyrotechnico of New Castle ended the two-day festival with the world premiere of “Prism,” featuring electronic dance and instrumental classical music.
According to Doug Aller, the production manager for Pyrotechnico, the setup for such an extravagant display had to start on May 17, for the performances on Saturday and Sunday. A crew of 27 people helped set up the equipment for the show, containing more than 7,000 individual firing sequences.
Stephen Vitale's brother, Rocco, was the designer of “Prism,” a show that took about two and a half weeks to create, Rocco Vitale said.
“A show this complex takes two or three hours to create one minute of the show,” Rocco Vitale said. The completed “Prism” performance is just over 20 minutes, he said.And those four, roughly 20-minute fireworks displays are so good that Laura and Rob Dobson from Butler scheduled their camping trip around PyroFest, having ordered their two-day tickets in the winter.“We came back from camping to see this,” Laura Dobson said, explaining that they had left the campgrounds at Chapman State Park in Clarendon, Pa., specifically for PyroFest.Last year, the couple only went to one night of the show, but Rob Dobson said they were hooked.“We went last year, and in the car on the way home, (Laura) said, 'We're coming both nights next year,'” Rob Dobson said.The couple also brought friends this year, along with eight pairs of earplugs and one pair of noise-canceling headphones for a child.“You will feel (the fireworks) thump in your chest,” Laura Dobson said.In fact, the fireworks were so impressive that they were probably what caused car alarms to go off at Cooper's Lake on Saturday night — the best part of the night, according to 10-year-old Gavin Haugh.Gavin went to PyroFest with his parents, Kristen and Paul, and his triplet siblings, Emma and Austen, and younger brother, Cole.Emma was the only one in the family who had been to PyroFest before, and she was oh-so-happy when her cousin, Scott Haugh, surprised the family with two tickets on Saturday, she said.Paul Haugh said the family was considering going, but the free tickets sealed the deal.Of course, as enjoyable as PyroFest is, other fireworks may not seem as good anymore, Paul Haugh said.“This might ruin it for any other fireworks,” he said after Saturday night's shows.According to Austen, he hopes the family returns next year.“It was amazing, incredible, mind-blowing!” he said.
