Burning hundreds of billions of dong for a 20-minute performance in the sky of Da Nang

Hundreds of billions of dong have been spent to create what is called "high risk - high return" in the art of light at each DIFF season, where profit is measured by the joy of the audience and the pride of the Vietnamese people.

The Da Nang International Fireworks Festival (DIFF 2024) has become a brand and a source of pride for Vietnamese tourism .

DIFF 2024 will have 10 shows, with each performance lasting 20 minutes. However, to create those brief moments of ecstasy in the sky, nearly 12 months of meticulous preparation are needed. There is no "magic wand" to help the organizers and the 8 teams skip the stages.

When organizational minds meet boundless creative spirits.

Let's start with the mechanics of the "game". Teams are required to have the number of fireworks and the desired factory, Sun Group will cover all costs and work with Global 2000 - a fireworks organization consulting company - to import all, ensuring the quantity and type of fireworks.

After a difficult journey across the sea and thousands of kilometers of land transportation, two weeks before the first fireworks team arrived in Da Nang , all 46,561 fireworks with more than 180 different types of fireworks were neatly and safely in storage, waiting for the performance day.

It is part of the journey of the DIFF fireworks. From the warehouse of premium ingredients to the eye-catching performances, the idea was actually conceived 9 months before when 8 teams accepted the invitation from the organizing committee.

From accommodation and competition conditions to the source of fireworks, Sun Group and Global 2000 met all the most stringent requirements of the competing teams.

Ms. Nadia Shakira Wong - Director of Global 2000 - the unit in charge of fireworks teams participating in DIFF 2024 said that the Da Nang International Fireworks Festival is one of the major playgrounds in the region that any fireworks team would want to try their hand at. The selected teams are all very strong teams.

"Global 2000's strategy is that out of the 8 participating teams, we will select about 4 strong teams and 4 new teams. This way, when pairing them up, we can ensure that each night will have a spectacular and visually stunning performance, and at the same time, there will be performances promising many surprises for the viewers."

Ms. Nadia Shakira Wong and the Global 2000 team

The selection process began nearly a year ago, the Organizing Committee searched for talent, set out the standard conditions, the teams arranged their schedules, signed cooperation agreements and became part of DIFF. That is also the time when the artists will immediately start preparing for the miracles in the sky of Da Nang in June next year.

9 months of passion of the lighting "architect" and hundreds of people

Often described as a magnificent symphony of light that takes viewers through every range of emotions, the special feature that has made DIFF so appealing to audiences for many years is the harmony and transcendence of fireworks and music.

According to experts at Global 2000, whether to choose the music beforehand or create a script beforehand depends on each team, but most teams will create the music first according to their own ideas because sometimes music creates its own language, determining how the teams will script their fireworks display.

The choice of music is always crucial. But the soul of any fireworks team is undoubtedly the "designer." "He uses our scriptwriting software. Then, he creates a virtual program to execute all the ideas. The colors or the unique shapes. It's his stage," shared Nancy Rozzi, captain of the Rozzi Fireworks team from the US, explaining how they create an impressive fireworks display.

The US fireworks team checks the artillery site in the scorching heat, before the performance on night 2 of DIFF 2024

After having the music and the shooting script, the next difficult step is to find the right fireworks products and combine and assemble everything. This is not easy. There are fireworks teams that have to mobilize up to 400 people to work, including experts, technicians, and even people who are knowledgeable about fire safety...

The most difficult things had to be completed in more than 9 months since the teams accepted to participate in DIFF. Because the teams only had about 5 working days before the competition night and nothing could be changed on Saturday morning - the official performance day of DIFF 2024.

All of this demands a high level of safety because danger is always lurking. Competing teams will go to the fireworks storage provided by Sun Group and Global 2000 to select the types of fireworks they want to use and bring them back for setup, as regulations prohibit keeping too many fireworks at once. "With the scorching weather and the large number of fireworks, if the cabin gets too hot, it could lead to a fire, and we don't want that to happen. For us, safety comes first," a member of the DIFF organizing committee stated.

After finishing their work at the shooting range, the team members are not allowed to touch the equipment because the technical joints are connected together. "They will become spectators and cannot change anything even if they want to," said Ms. Nadia.

The "nightmare" called weather

While everything is ready, the weather can still be a big obstacle for the teams. Working under the hot sun is a challenge for the members, most of whom come from colder countries. But the sun is not the biggest fear, it is the rain that can ruin the "dream" scenarios.

In fact, at DIFF 2023, the Italian team encountered heavy rain and flooding, so many fireworks could not be used. This was truly an unforeseeable risk, and the Italian team still has not forgotten this painful lesson in this year's DIFF season.

The Italian team is preparing thoroughly for their debut at DIFF 2024.

Whether it rains the day before, during, or after a performance, rain is always a nightmare. Rainy weather makes the sky gloomy and windless, leading to a lot of smoke during performances.

"When teams shoot, they will shoot low-altitude fireworks first to wait for the wind to blow away the smoke and then wait for the right moment to be able to shoot fireworks with special effects. Therefore, the lack of wind can be a big obstacle, a big problem for the competing teams," explained the Global 2000 expert.

And when this "nightmare" is overcome, the short 20-minute light show in the sky will truly fulfill its mission, turning 9 months of preparation, hundreds of billions of dong and the efforts of hundreds of people into an explosion of joy in the sky of Da Nang.

The second competition night of DIFF 2024 will be broadcast live at 8:00 p.m. on June 15 on Da Nang Radio and Television (DRT) and 19 other local television stations. After the second night, the following nights of DIFF 2024 will witness the competition between the teams: Germany - Poland (June 22); China - Finland (June 29), and the final night will take place on July 13.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/diff-2024-dot-hang-tram-ti-dong-cho-20-phut-trinh-dien-tuyet-dinh-tren-bau-troi-da-nang-185240614064225428.htm