Hey there everyone,

I'm still walking on air thinking back to the competition that was in 2007. It's not quite over for me yet as I have to edit the German display for YouTube posting and personal use - more on that soon! And I did not record the closing display for various reasons - took the night off, sat back and enjoyed!

My question to you is whether or not you have seen anything reported in the local press (outside of internet news sites) about this year's competition? It could be in the english or french press.

I scoured today's Montreal Gazette newspaper for a write-up on the awards ceremony last night and couldn't find anything - plenty on Lindsay Lohan though... Neither have I seen anything on individual displays throughout the competition either - just to mention.

If there isn't anything written in Monday's paper I will be writing an angry 'letter to the editor.'

It baffles me as to how a fireworks competition, considered to be among, if not, the most important and prestigious in the world does not get a mere mention in the LOCAL PRESS!!!

If an event watched by tens of thousands of people on a given night doesn't meet "news" status, then I may as well cancel my subscription to The Gazette.

I thank you in advance for any of your observations you can share,

TRae

TRae,

I, too, did not see any coverage whatsoever in the Gazette, unless I was completely blind and it simply past me. However, I do indeed remember that there was full coverage in the Gazette last year and even the years before, which was even commonly seen on the front page, so I don't know what happened this year.

I did, however, here a further announcement on the radio station, Q92, when going to Cornwall/Morrisburg today and I heard an announcement stating the winners, but what confused me was that he also mentioned that the results were "unofficial"; I doubt it, though, because the winners are always officially announced during the ceremony before the actual Panzera display takes place anyway, so I don't know what he was talking about.

That's pretty much all I've heard about the competition and its results today. Speaking of that, for years I wanted to mention this, but as you travel to Ontario going towards Cornwall, before you cross the border there is a huge warehouse having the name "BEM" and I know that the company represented Canada a couple times in the competition. I've seen this warehouse for many, many years, but always seem to forget to acknowledge it o the forum. Next to the warehouse is a little fireworks shop, too. I always think about the fireworks competition everytime we pass through there heading to Eastern Ontario.

Trav.

LOL @ Smoke. I remember I've seen that BEM warehouse several times in the past.

Actually, I remember that in the late 90s when we used to receive La Presse journal, there were a couple of articles about the fireworks. I've in fact collected those articles. I remember one which talks about Japan 2000 lol. Hopefully, I still have them somewhere! I'm not sure if it was from La Presse or Journal de Montreal, though.

I agree the media doesn't discuss a lot about the fireworks. I guess they consider it ho hum stuff these days, especially since it's been running for more than 20 years. But it's a shame; it's such an important event in Montreal! I sometimes visit La Presse's website and I don't remember seening an article, or maybe they're just not in the headlines.

I believe Fred made a post about this a couple of years ago on this forum. He's been doing a good job by posting his articles at pyroplanet.com, at least .

Well I know that ctv news would show clips that they took from each show during their 11 o'clock evening news the night of each show. It was nice to see some of the display you just watched being played on the TV.

Canuck,

was that this year? CTV were listed as a media partner last year (as well as TQS) but were not listed as such this year (though TQS were). Years ago the CBC (I think) used to have a half hour special before the start of the competition showing the highlights from the previous year.

As for the Gazette, well they have been pretty hopeless over the years anyway. I didn't notice anyone from there at the press conference back in June - in previous years they've usually sent someone - and they had no-one at any of the displays. They used to at least send someone to the closing show. Pretty pathetic really. I guess their readership is mainly in the West Island and they figure that few people from there are going to make the trek to see the fireworks.

La Press used to be a media partner but stopped carrying Georges Lamon's reports (which he still publishes on his website: http://pages.videotron.com/glamon/index.html in pretty much the same format as were previously published). The Journal de Montreal is listed as a media partner, but I don't read that paper so I can't comment on their coverage of the competition.

As for the Mayor of Montreal, Gerald Tremblay, he should be ashamed at his consistent disregard for the most popular festival in Quebec. Not once has he attended, yet he is always seen at such photo-ops as the Gay Pride Parade - I guess all he cares about is votes. Not that one should expect much form a politician anyway. Say what you like about Pierre Borque, at least when he was Mayor he would attend the competition and give a good speech about the importance of the competition to Montrealers. What is particularly annoying about Tremblay is that he couldn't even be bothered to turn up to the special 20th edition - a time in which diplomats from every participating country attended and gave speeches about their compatriots. Shame on you Tremblay, shame on you. OK, political rant over

I'd encourage as many of you as possible to write letters to your newspapers that didn't provide the level of coverage expected - it's the only way that editors will take any notice.

Paul.

Since many years, I'm very frustrated by the lack of media coverage about the Montreal Firework Competition. This year, the most important French newspaper, La Presse, has not published any text or photo about the contest. La Presse does cover ALL festival and cultural events in the Montreal area, BUT the firework competition. Georges Lamon already said to me that during his last years at La Presse, it was very difficult for him to continue his coverage because the lack of interest from his superiors. Nevertheless, Le Soleil and Le Droit consistently cover the firework competition in Quebec City and Gatineau. We can follow these contests from their regional section on http://www.cyberpresse.ca.

I don't watch often the local TV news. However, I watch the local news at Radio-Canada Friday night. There was a 20-minute segment about cultural events, and no word about the ultimate show of the season.

I have not often seen other journalists in the Salon des Artificiers this year. (An interesting fact is that the former name of this place was "Press Room"; it is now "Salon des Artificiers", maybe because there is nobody from media!) The only one I remember is a lady who writes for a Spanish journal; she is at La Ronde each time that there's a team from Mexico, Argentina, Spain...

I believe that the Competition doesn't receive a fair part of coverage from the local media and that it may explain the obvious decline in attendance at La Ronde (along with other factors, like the increasing ticket price).

A possible explanation would be that the media strategy of the public relation service at La Ronde is less agressive than in the past. It would not be surprising, since I am sure that there is less people in this department (as in all department of the park) than in the past, so I guess that they don't have the time to do an effective follow-up with the media. To send a press release on CNW/Telbec is not enough to secure a decent media coverage.

Enkil, thank you for your comment about my reports on PyroPlanet! Paul also makes a great job to keep this website alive, despite his busy agenda since a couple of years. Unfortunately, these websites are watched mainly by fanatic of pyros and they are not effective way to reach a larger audience and to bring more people to and around La Ronde on firework nights.

Fred

It was this year. Me and my friends only got back in time once to be able to see part of the Mexico display that CTV was showing during the news. Like I said it was only a short clip, 30 secs or so, but CTV were definitely there this year filming the shows and were talking about the competition on the news. They also closed the 11 o'clock news with more video from the Mexico show that day.

Is there any way we can contact La Ronde, or send them a letter regarding their level of publicity towards the competition? It probably won't do anything, but it's worth a shot. At least it will let them know that there are concerned fans out there. I have also taken the initiative in sending a letter to the Gazette stating the lack of coverage based on the competition and the official results, which I clearly stated was quite disrespectful and denotes very little recognition to this sort of event.

But one thing I don't quite understand. If the general capacity at La Ronde is indeed 33,000 and this has not been met in recent years, including this season, then why would this decrease in attendance be seen as a means of terminating the competition since even a smaller population generates a fair amount of money anyway?

Trav.

Trav,

It has been a full week since I e-mailed my letter to The Gazette. I would say there is a 99% chance that they're not planning on publishing either of ours considering you sent yours on Tuesday at the latest.

I will re-submit a letter which is not as a harsh on The Gazette for wholeheartidly supporting festivals like Just For Laughs and the Jazz Fest - events which they sponsor - and completely neglecting the fireworks competition.

I also plan on phoning the Gazette and speaking to somebody who can explain why there was no mention of the competition at all this year.

Argh - I'm livid!!!

TRae,

I was probably moderately harsh in my letter to The Gazette, but it was the best I could do in acknowledging a fireworks competition of this calibur, which, with all due respect, deserves to be recognized to the highest extent.

Like you, maybe I will also be direct and simply call them up whenever I get the chance. Hopefully it will serve to increase our efforts, but I'm still so very disappointed in knowing that there was so little coverage in the first place. It sucks to see something that I've grown up with be given such little mention and attention.

Best of luck to both of us, my friend. Maybe if we're lucky, we will fall into the 1% chance of them publishing our letters.

Trav.