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SYMPHONY OF FIRE ... more than anyone expected!

us expected! They were something
else! How does one compare one
great fiery cruption with another
dazzling, colorful blast three
nights later?

The fact that there were five
categories helped a bit. There was
synchronization — the split-se-
cond timing of the fireworks co-
ordinated with the beat of the
music; architecture — the choice,
variety, originality and effects of
the fireworks elements; general
design — best possible use of the
presentation site; music — the
choice of musical theme in rela-
tion to fireworks presented and
quality of the sound track; and
the length of presentation — each
competition had to be a minimum
of 25 minutes.

Canada's debut on the
pyrotechnical field was handled
expertly by Toronto’s Pyro-Spec-
taculars Canada Lid., a very
aptly-named company. There were
splendiforous skyrockets of green
and gold, spreading plumes and
circlets of red and silver sparkles
and huge cascading waterfalls of
purples and blues, done to te
score of ‘‘Les Miserables’.

Because Les Miz has had such a
long run back East, and because
this was the gala official opening
night for the production at the
Queen Elizabeth Theatre, the
choice of music seemed very ap-
propriate. At least, that was my

eyeglasses and get
‘a second pair “
FREE! pte $150 caine

view. But some of the other
judges hadn’t seen the show or
heard much of the score so it was
rather unfamiliar to them.

But the fireworks display itself
was magnificent! And this was the
opening night! So you can imag-
ine what we expected from the
previous European winners, Italy
and Spain.

The wind conditions, or lack of
it, played against Italy’s produc-
tion by Gabriele Vallefuoco. The
smoke from the exploding mortars
hid many of the pyrotechnichal
cffects from our view atop the
English Bay BathHouse. Though
it was very colorful, it paled
alongside Canada’s efforts.

Then came Spain, and all the
technica! wizardry, show biz ex-
pertise and flawless execution of
A. Caballer Llorens shone
through. While Spain was the
undisputed winner among the
judges, and among the crowd,
Canada was very close to being
No. I.

Benson & Hedges’ people have
been overwhelmed by the warmth
of the reception by the public to
Symphony of Fire and plan to
make it an annual summertime
event in our town...

Speaking of crowds, there were
some 300,000 people on or around
the area of English Bay, Kits
Beach, Jericho and Stanley Park,
all of whom had been advised to

“contact ‘lenses and

‘get a’second pair
FREED opto s2sovatce

IMAGE 5)

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984-3434

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leave their cars at home and cither
walk or take public transit.

That was a major problem that
has to be laid at the feet of the
transportation people. First they
insist that you use the buses or
skytrain and then forget that
they’re running the system on a
holiday schedule!

B.C. Transit officials knew well
in advance that extra buses and
skytrains would be needed, and
that they would have to run later
than normal hours to accommo-
date the overflow crowds.

After the fireworks were finish-
ed, hundreds of thousands of

Sunday, August 12, 1990 - North Shore News -— 33

COCKTAILS & CAVIAR

Grace McCarthy.

people — young families with
strollers, seniors and teenagers -—
all surged out onto Denman and
Beach unable to move simply
because of the vast numbers.

Hopefully better communica-
tions will exist next year before
this mammoth human traffic jam
happens again...

Kudos to Benson & Hedges for
the fantastic (ree entertainment
they provided, to Music “91,
BCTV and CKNW for sponsoring
them, to Ray Greenwood and the
Vancouver Fireworks Society and
to the Vancouver Police Depart-
ment for keeping perfect control
of the huge crowd and doing it
politely and with good humor...

And a pat on the back to the
manager Arthur Achium and his
crew at the English Bay Cafe, who
provided the judges with pre-show
dinners based on foods from the
various countries performing.

The only problem the English
Bay Cafe faced during the com-
petition was that, while they were
jammed, instead of their usual
turn-over diners, they found that,

ELEGANT ....
PRESTIGIOUS ....
SECLUDED . ee.

oe

a

Dusty Martell.

naturally, no one would leave
their table ‘till after the fireworks
were ended. They probably
poured more coffee refills than
any time in the history of the
English Bay Cafe!...

ete

Tomorrow night there's a
special dinner being hosted by the
PNE brass and created by
specially-imported Thai chefs to
welccane Thailand as its guest for
the 1990 fair.

That wili be prior to the gala
black-tie Thai dinner at the Hotel
Van on Thursday...

And for the first time ever,
Miss PNE will be chosen out of
the 45 contestants to the fair’s
opening. The Miss PNE Pageant
will be held Thursday amd Friday
nights with three of the judges
fron the North Shore — CBC's
Vicki Gabereau, CTV’s Dusty
Martell and hair stylist Richard
Jeha.

The fourth judge is casting
director Sid Kozak. The annual
summer fair opens next Satur-
day!... Cheers!

Tiffany Pines

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North Vancouver, B.C.

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