Da Nang International Fireworks Festival - DIFF 2024 officially opens
At exactly 8:30 p.m., on the shimmering surface of the Han River, the first fireworks of the Vietnamese team soared into the sky and bloomed sparklingly and gracefully to the background music of the song "Heaven". The 2024 Da Nang International Fireworks Festival sponsored and co-organized bySun Group officially began.
The magical rays of light spread out as if soaring across the sky of Da Nang on the evening of June 8, like birds spreading their wings and flying high, carrying the aspirations of the beautiful coastal city, containing the hospitality and openness of the people of Da Nang to welcome the world .
Immediately after that, with only 20 minutes of performance, the reigning champion team France took the audience into a mesmerizing dance. More than 100 types of fireworks were skillfully combined to "paint" the sky of Da Nang a majestic scene of oriental culture, then exploded in the final act to the seemingly endless applause of more than 10,000 emotional spectators.
June is filled with the vibrant, exhilarating flavors of summer. But few people know that the story of how such a summer came about began last winter…
Fireworks display by the French team on opening night
Nearly 12 months of preparation for 40 minutes of glory
DIFF has the participation of 8 fireworks teams each festival season, and each team has 4 months to prepare for the show. In particular, all costs of human resources, materials of the teams and the consulting unit Global 2000 International are sponsored by Sun Group Corporation, thanks to which this team will focus on researching, creating and performing the most classy competitions for the audience at each DIFF season. However, fireworks are the most important factor for the teams to show off their skills, so they must be ready very early.
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 stored in the warehouse, waiting for the performance day. The journey to obtain that warehouse of "premium materials" began when the fireworks season ended last year with the careful coordination and implementation of Sun Group and Global 2000 International.
Fireworks are a very special type of product. Especially from the production, transportation, storage to the use. Fireworks for the Da Nang International Fireworks Festival are even more different. DIFF is not only a playground, but also an international competition of the world's top fireworks teams. This brings difficult questions to the Organizing Committee: hundreds of different types of fireworks, responding to "unique" performance scenarios.
Transporting and preserving fireworks for DIFF is extremely complicated and costly.
However, the progress is even more demanding. It takes about 3 - 6 months to produce fireworks. Meanwhile, the production and transportation of fireworks depends a lot on suppliers. But the time when fireworks are available in Da Nang to serve the festival, there is no other answer than: On the right day.
The work of selecting, negotiating and implementing with factories was immediately carried out after receiving the expected scenario from the competing teams. More than 20 most prestigious factories were selected and rushed to production because the progress was quite tight. However, the difficulties had just begun: the fireworks were already made, but how could they get to Da Nang?
"Fireworks were transported to Vietnam by sea. It took us a lot of time and effort to find a ship that met the requirements for transporting flammable and explosive goods. But what made the Organizing Committee most stressed was that there was only one shipping line, Maersk, that accepted to transport fireworks with a very limited schedule. If we missed a ship, it would be very difficult and time-consuming to get another ship to transport the fireworks back to the country. And this must not happen," a member of Sun Group's fireworks import team recalled.
With discipline and relentless efforts to pursue the target, in March, all the cannons were ready to be shipped to Vietnam. The whole team breathed a sigh of relief when they received the news that the goods had been completed.
The artillery was stored in the Military Command warehouse before being distributed to the teams.
The days of crossing the sea and the 800 kilometers of "holding our breath" on every meter of road to bring the artillery to shore
"Yesterday, we traveled from 10:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. this morning, which means 23 hours on the road, but we never stopped concentrating" - a member who participated in importing and directly escorting fireworks from Hai Phong Port to Da Nang, smiled excitedly behind sunken eyes when he had just finished transporting fireworks to Da Nang warehouse to serve DIFF, exactly 1 week before the Global 2,000 consulting unit arrived to check and prepare the shooting range for the 8 competing teams.
Three containers of fireworks are probably not as heavy as the pressure that the people escorting the fireworks must "get to their destination and return safely". With the characteristic of high explosion, even if just one firework or one accessory in the firework is at risk of exploding, it will affect the entire container of fireworks, and the level of danger is unpredictable.
Transporting fireworks by road is a real challenge for the convoy as it must meet three requirements at the same time: ensuring no impact on traffic in residential areas, ensuring the correct standard speed so as not to affect the quality of the fireworks carried on the vehicle, but still having to follow the correct route and schedule to reach the destination on time.
"11pm is the 23rd hour of the trip when we are constantly tense and vigilant, concentrating at the maximum level" - a member of the artillery escort team shared.
Transporting fireworks by road is a challenge for Sun Group's team.
However, before the fireworks could roll to Da Nang, there was a long sea journey. From the factories, the fireworks were shipped to Hong Kong port - the only place where dangerous goods like fireworks could be exported to Vietnam, then continued on the only ship to Hai Phong. To have 7 days of drifting at sea from the factories to Hong Kong port, it took 1 month of arrangements. And that amount of time for organization plus 10 days of waiting for the "must-miss" ship, to have a 2-day sea journey to bring 3 containers of fireworks to Hai Phong.
"Every step must be precise and absolutely rhythmic, no mistakes or delays are allowed for any reason. Even on May 18, when the fireworks successfully arrived at the port of Vietnam, we were still holding our breath. We told each other, 'lifting like lifting a firework' is the right thing to do with our mission" - Mr. Tuan, a member of the fireworks subcommittee, recounted, unable to hide the pride that lit up in the eyes of those who silently stood behind the splendid lights of the fireworks after the opening night.
Every night, the Da Nang International Fireworks Festival ends, Da Nang tourism opens up a new vitality. It is the vitality of a city reaching out to the world and constantly renewing. It is the vitality of an open land, where the people warmly welcome friends from all over the world, where the city and businesses join hands to beautify and enrich the land. Behind the sparkle of joy, there is a very quiet happiness, of those who love their homeland with all their hearts.
( To be continued )
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/kinh-ngac-hanh-trinh-vuot-bien-va-hang-ngan-km-duong-bo-cua-46561-qua-phao-den-da-nang-1852406111116407.htm
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