The President of the International Symposium on Fireworks Society closes the 13th event in Malta with the message from the Basque-Catalan delegation: “We must be loyal to our roots”

Fira Mediterrània of Manresa values the International Symposium as a showcase for raising the overseas profile of Catalan culture

During the closing ceremony of the 13^th International Symposium on Fireworks, Canadian Ettore Contestabile, president of the ISF Society, referred to words spoken an hour earlier by the Basque-Catalan delegation, Basque pyrotechnics expert Izaskun Astondoa and Jordi Bertran, on behalf of Fira Mediterrània of Manresa. Mr. Contestabile, a well-known figure in the world of pyrotechnics, emphasised the distinctive features of the traditional use of fireworks described by Catalonia and the Basque Country, by Mexican speaker Jorge Mauro Márquez and by representatives of the Union Philharmonic Society in the Maltese town of Luqa, Andre Magri and Neil Zammit, who gave an excellent session on the first day of the event about how these organisations have traditionally used fireworks on the archipelago.

The Basque-Catalan paper gave a fascinating account of the ways in which the amateur use of fireworks in various towns across in Catalonia is deeply rooted in tradition. Fira Mediterrània presented audio-visual, written and/or verbal material obtained from the Catalan towns of L’Arboç, Berga, Les Borges del Camp, Granollers, Manresa, Mataró, Reus, Sitges, El Vendrell and Vilafranca del Penedès. Their description of Catalan pyrotechnic customs included street fireworks for the “Nit de Sant Joan” festivities, “traques” (strings of bangers), “córrer la traca” (involving people running underneath strings of bangers), “transparents”, “salves”, “enceses de campanar” (when fireworks are set alight from church bell towers), “entrades de processó” (signalling the entry of a procession), “grups de foc” (firework groups), “glòries” and “tronades” (powerful bangers, sometimes using mortar tubes and shells). The talk has been published in English by the ISF Society and has been made available in both paper and digital format to the 350 delegates from 40 states across five continents who attended the Symposium. Fira’s presentation ensured international coverage for our traditional firework customs.

Economic impact studies

“Over the three days around News Year’s Eve, the city of Sydney in Australia obtains an economic impact of 156 million dollars for 12 minutes of fireworks”. These figures were quoted during the Symposium by the City of Sydney organiser and by Salvatore Foti, from the Australian company Foti Fireworks. This is in addition to the 23 million hits recorded during the 12-minute live broadcast over the internet. The economic impact of fireworks was one of the major topics of discussion at this international event held in the Maltese capital of La Valletta.

Fira Mediterrània’s Catalan delegation shared the spotlight alongside representatives of Andalusia, the Basque Country, Galicia and Valencia, as well as with organisations working in partnership with the Spanish Government. Some of these delegations also had stands in the Symposium Trade Show area, but Catalonia and the Basque Country were the only ones to give presentations. During the Symposium and Trade Show, the Maltese hosts, who use the word “festa” to describe their traditional community festivals, shared the customs and heritage surrounding their use of pyrotechnics, which is still an amateur craft in Malta. The various networking meetings attended by Fira included an event held for a number of international delegations and hosted by Frank Zammit from the St. Joseph Society in the town of Ghaxaq. Some of these older and more traditional forms of pyrotechnics were widespread in Catalonia up to quite recently.