Wingwalker Posted August 19, 2013 Posted August 19, 2013 Hello all, Does anyone know what the reccomendations are for maximum wind speed permissable to do a public firework display before the event has to be pulled? Every year the town I used to live in holds their annual regatta culminating in a firework spectacular on the Saturday evening. This happenned over the weekend but the weather was incredibly poor. Lashing rain and seriously strong winds - trees were bending right over and my car was being battered from side to side, yet the show went on. Due to the weather the attendance was not a patch on normal years but I'm amazed the fireworks were still let off. David.
p.k.roberts Posted August 19, 2013 Posted August 19, 2013 Hello all, Does anyone know what the reccomendations are for maximum wind speed permissable to do a public firework display before the event has to be pulled? Every year the town I used to live in holds their annual regatta culminating in a firework spectacular on the Saturday evening. This happenned over the weekend but the weather was incredibly poor. Lashing rain and seriously strong winds - trees were bending right over and my car was being battered from side to side, yet the show went on. Due to the weather the attendance was not a patch on normal years but I'm amazed the fireworks were still let off. David. There's not really a simple answer to this as a number of factors would be involved. The wind direction would be very important; was it blowing debris away from the audience in to a 'safe' area or fall-out zone? What types of fireworks were used - rockets tend to fly into the wind for example - it may well be that not all of the planned items in the show were fired. It might have deemed safer to fire a limited show in order to avoid a disgruntled crowd or to avoid de-rigging live items.
gareth Posted August 25, 2013 Posted August 25, 2013 It's definitely not an exact science! There's no 'magic number' defining the go and no-go wind speeds for a display. Indeed, it's not really a cut and dried go/no-go situation at all - it's perfectly possible to fire a show in windy conditions, but it might mean pulling some of the effects with longer hang times (which can be carried further by the wind while they're still burning), such as parachute effects or kamuro shells.
emsgeorge Posted August 26, 2013 Posted August 26, 2013 Do a freedom of information request to the council that the town is in, asking for the safety plan. They will disclose it under FOI, and some make very interesting reading, to what they have 'told the council they will have', as to what 'they actually have / do'. One smaller 'festival' round here has now had to do things properly, as their safety plan was a sprinkled with fairy dust, compared to what actually happened on the weekend. Theres quite a few safety plans that people have asked for, on whatdotheyknow.com
Jivemaster Posted August 26, 2013 Posted August 26, 2013 I've seen fireworks let off in winds that made standing difficult, but the wind came from the crowd to the fireworks so no debris landed anywhere near the crowd. The other major consideration is what to do with an expectant crowd if there are no fireworks, -maybe firing the show was a better option than a crowd getting rowdy due to disappointment.
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