From La Ronde's Facebook page:

Bonne NOUVELLE! Dans le cadre de l’édition spéciale de L’International des Feux Loto-Québec, La Ronde vous offre des mini-feux surprises dans différents arrondissements de Montréal tout au long de l’été! 😆

Ce soir, c’est dans un parc de Rivière-des-Prairies que ça passe!🎆 Ne manquez pas notre premier spectacle à 21 h 30 (durée de 5 minutes) qui sera accompagné des chansons Je lui dirai de Céline Dion et Une chance qu’on s’a de Jean-Pierre Ferland.

*** Compte tenu des règles imposées par la santé publique, nous ne pouvons dévoiler l'emplacement exact de la prestation. ***

THE BASICS. I managed to attend the premiere of L'International des Feux Loto-Québec “prelude” series, tonight. While a teaser had been published on the Facebook page of l'IFLQ early this week, it is only this morning that La Ronde announced a series of surprise mini-displays to be held in various areas of Montreal this summer. This short notice was not the only challenge to get my way to the show: following rules from public health authorities, the specific location could not be disclosed to prevent mass gatherings. The only cue provided by La Ronde was a park of the Rivière-des-Prairies district. The show was advertised at 9:30pm, with a duration of 5 minutes.

WHAT HAPPENED? Thanks to a leak, I knew in late afternoon that Parc Pasquale-Gattuso was to be home of this mini-display. From the point of view I had, I saw several tens of viewers, but certainly less than 100. Two “salutes” (actually another kind of pyrotechnic devices) were shot about 5 and 10 minutes before the display. Competition technical director Paul Csukassy delivered a live introduction to welcome the audience and to present the series. He also indicated that audience members could locally hear the soundtrack on the frequence 88.3FM, an information not provided by La Ronde on Facebook.

At 9:30pm or so, the show started with a soundtrack made of two songs, Jean-Pierre Ferland's Une chance qu'on s'a and Céline Dion's Je lui dirai. Unfortunately, despite the short distance between my spot and the firing area, I could barely hear the musics, presumably because the speakers were not oriented towards the area where I was. I am not sure to what extent the show was actually synchronized with the musics.

On the pyrotechnic side, the show was mostly made of medium-sized shells all fired with the same angle, from a single location. These included heart-shaped shells, many crackling comets, crossettes, and a certain number of bicolour shells of stars. Whistles and clouds of bees (or flying fish) were also displayed. The show ended with a volley of actual salutes, exactly 5 minutes after its beginning. The show was not designed to be seen from a particular angle, as there was no low level material, and no lateral sequences. The material appeared to be supplied by Groupe Fiatlux Ampleman (GFA), as a truck of the company was on site. However, some members of La Ronde pyro crew were there to set up the show.

WHAT'S NEXT? It was told to the audience before the show that tonight display was the first of a series of 8 and I understand that all are scheduled on Saturday nights, before the 30-minute display currently scheduled at La Ronde on Saturday, September 4. Some weeks, two shows will occur simultaneously in different districts. It is planned that all districts will be announced the day of each show.

SHOULD YOU GO? WHAT IS MY OVERALL OPINION? Assuming that you know the location, I would say that you should attend this series whether the following conditions are met: (i) you love fireworks and can't wait to feel the burst of some pyrotechnic devices, (ii) you live very close to the show, and (iii) you don't compromise an important activity for this one. Set your expectations right. Don't expect to see an extravaganza which parallels the ones made at La Ronde. You must expect a show with a small size, a very short duration, and it is not guarantee that you'll properly hear the soundtrack.

The advertisement of the event is a major issue here. So far, and as far as I know, it has been announced only on La Ronde and IFLQ Facebook pages. It is obvious that very few people were aware of the event tonight. Generally speaking, I find hard to understand why fireworks organizers in Gatineau (also in Quebec) fully advertised their upcoming shows in August, but the same is apparently not permitted in Montreal. However, without disclosing the specific location, I think more details should be provided, at least to help the local residents to infer the most likely location. It would also help to release the schedule of the tour (dates and districts) in advance, with more cues about the location on the same day, or so.

Overall, that is the first time I attended a pyrotechnic show since one year and a half, and that was a real pleasure, for sure. Meeting some people I had not seen for so long was also a major plus-value to this evening activity!

Fred

EDIT:

- As I examine my video more closely, I can't rule out the hypothesis that show was designed to be seen from a “front” and that I was located on its “side”: the angle of the highest devices was slightly different than the “lowest” ones, maybe to add perspective for a front audience. Consequently, I can't rule out that some cakes had a Z-motion, for instance.

- This IFLQ show was presented exactly 104 weeks after the last one (the 2019 closing display occurred on Saturday, July 27).

- For the next mini-shows, it would be a great addition to introduce the display with Vangelis' Chariots of Fire, and an already recorded Michel Lacroix's countdown. These would add a IFLQ signature to these preludes.