Pyro Procrastination
The Malta International Fireworks Festival ran during my stay on the country’s main island. After three days on the archipelago I was unable to find the origins of the Malteser, despite incessant questioning of local chocolatiers. Nor was I able to find an Italian man who wanted “two piece on the table” and a “sheet on the bed.” I felt mournful over my inability to engage in any authentic Maltese experience. So, having read about it online, I hoped that the fireworks festival might be my answer. On my third night in Malta I hopped on the bus to Valletta, headed down to a viewpoint over the harbour and waited for the start of the second round of the Pyro Musical Competition in this year’s festival.
From what I could hear from my vantage point, a considerable distance from the large stage on the harbour foreshore, there were three competitors. Hailing from Poland, Romania and somewhere else that I couldn’t hear, these professional pyromaniacs had prepared complex fireworks displays. The sun was only just setting so it did seem a bit early for fireworks. But still, a crowd split over various viewpoints and balconies of the old city stood with anticipation as we waited for the fireworks displays to begin.
That’s when the first band came on the stage. An all-male Maltese rock band started playing REM’s ‘Losing My Religion.’ I thought it was a nice song to start with. It was a good way to get the crowd excited for the fireworks which we expected would begin very soon. I wasn’t expecting a band, but they were good. “They’ll probably play two, maybe three, songs and then the fireworks will begin,” I thought to myself. Over the next hour the band played covers from the likes of John Denver, Tina Turner, Oasis and Miley Cyrus. They played ‘Seven Nation Army’ and immediately followed it up with ‘I’m a Believer,’ a title which said the opposite of how likely I felt that that was the last song they’d play before the fireworks began. They played a few Maltese rock songs for good measure and after an hour announced that it was their final song.
It was then time for fireworks, although we were still in the pre-show, I later discovered. We were not yet at the competition. This first batch of fireworks were quite different to anything I’d seen before. A firework would go off in the harbour, explode midair and then there was a pause for about a minute before another one would go off. In that minute we, the audience, would contemplate what we’d just seen before moving on to the next firework. It was kind of like wine tasting. Each firework had its own distinct shape, colour and timing and it was important that these complex elements were given their due respect. If this display was like wine tasting then Sydney’s New Year’s fireworks display was binge drinking. On New Years everything happens all at once, and lots of it. There was no mixing drinks here. One firework at a time and that was it. Admittedly, the fireworks were very different to the ones I’d seen in the past. They were three-dimensional and exploded multiple times in the air and had lots of different colours. But there weren’t a lot of them. I’d imagine it was very cost-effective.
After fifteen minutes of seeing a couple of fireworks the display stopped and another band came on to the main stage. It felt like organisers were trying to justify the cost of constructing the stage by filling it with unwanted performers. This time the band was a Maltese folk band that managed to combine folk flute and accordion tunes with electric guitar riffs. We endured more music when all we wanted was fireworks. At this wine tasting I felt like the sommelier was really trying to get us full on the complimentary crackers and dip before we could get to any of the good stuff.
Finally, after a twenty minute set, the firework competition began. The first competitor, a Polish man, explained in his opening video that he wanted fireworks to be more than just a big display. He wanted there to be highs and lows, points of excitement and points of tension. He wanted viewers to express a spectrum of emotions and, in turn, appreciate the artistic merit of professional fireworking. He delivered. Of particular note for me was when he coordinated fireworks to ABBA’s ‘The Winner Takes It All,’ a song about loss and regret. I also enjoyed ‘The Final Countdown’ being played halfway through the set, making everyone cheer when it ended, thinking the display was over. Nevertheless the display had a lot more going on than what I’d seen earlier in the night.
After the display had finished the Maltese folk band came back on to the stage. We then saw some more wine-tasting fireworks. I anticipated that the cycle of music, small fireworks, music, big fireworks would go on for a while. I had also been standing in the same position for two hours. Since I was not in the market for buying any more fireworks (I pre-purchase all of my fireworks twelve months in advance), I decided to head home.
