I love fireworks. One of my earliest memories of my childhood in Belfast was my father letting off fireworks in our backgarden one halloween when I was five. It transpires, however, that my memory was faulty as my father had taken up his new job in Cork at that point so it was my Uncle Billy who set them off. But I still remember the rockets and catherine wheels. And I remember going through the garden the next morning with the kid from next door - Steve his name was - looking for the spent fireworks.
When we moved down south, Fireworks were banned so no more back garden displays. It wasn't until we had been living in Galway for a few years that I saw fireworks again. There was to be a fireworks display in Pearse Stadium, the GAA ground in Salthill. I begged Dad to take me and he did.
It was the most disappointing display I'd ever seen!
The fireworks themselves were great but there was no thought given to the display. It was more a case of "And now Bobby Molloy T.D. will set off some rockets" and then "And now the Mayor will set off some Catherine Wheels."
Then we moved to Belgium. Fireworks are legal there. You could go into a shop and buy fireworks that you knew would conform to safety legislation and whenever some organisation wanted to celebrate something they would have a fireworks display. For instance, my local supermarket was celebrating some anniversary or other so they sponsored a display. 30 minutes of fireworks set to music. Fantastic. And every July 21 - National Holiday - on the Place Royale 30 minutes set to music.
So here I am back in Ireland. And what's changed. A lot. This year's Skyfest was the first time I'd gone down to the docks to watch and it was well worth it. The only gripe I have is that at 20 minutes, it was far too short. But it was exciting. There are some photos below, but they don't begin to convey the spectacle. You had to be there.
     
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