Help & Advice

If you just need some simple friendly advice about fireworks, firework displays or special effects, this section aims to help answer some questions you may have.

Drawing on our many years of experience, we have tried to share with you all we know about how to get the best firework display you can.

If you can’t find the answer to a particular question, or want more detailed advice, drop us an email and we’ll do our best to help.

How much will a fireworks display cost?

For budgeting purposes your firework display budget needs to start at £600 plus VAT for a good five-minute display.

You may well find some companies offering displays for just £400 for a 5 min or even 10 min display. BEWARE of these offers - see advice on quality for more information.

Upwards from this starting point, the more you spend, the bigger the display you will get.

A display budget can be set on the basis of so much per minute, which can range from £100 per min to £2000 per min or more.

Before setting a budget it is worth understanding how fixed costs, duration, quality, quantity, logistics, and your audience will affect the budget.

Fixed costs

To put on a firework display, any display company has to cover a number of fixed costs first, before any money gets spent on the actual fireworks.

These fixed costs will include things like transport, manpower and insurance.

The fixed costs for say a £600 budget or a £1800 budget, are virtually the same at around £300.

So the firework budget available on a £600 budget is £300, compared to £1500 on a £1800 budget

In other words, 3X the budget, but 5X the fireworks.

Duration - the shorter the better

Fireworks are magical and we all want them to last forever.

However a strange thing happens during a fireworks display – time slows down. The amount of time you need for a display is often a lot shorter than you would imagine.

Of course it's your show, so you can have as long as you want. However we would always recommend packing more fireworks into a shorter period, rather than trying to stretch out the time.

Based on 30 years of experience, here is what we would recommend for different types of events;

Weddings, private parties, corporate events, Funerals

The ideal duration is between 5 and 7 minutes, with a max of 10 minutes. Any longer, people get bored, or cold, or both.

Bonfire night, Diwali, Chinese New Year,

Between 15 and 20 minutes, with 25 minutes being an absolute maximum. Any longer even we start to get bored, and we love fireworks.

Christmas Lights, New Years Eve, etc

Between 3 and 5 minutes. Any longer and you lose the moment of celebration.

Music concerts

Select 2 or 3 numbers towards the end of your programme.

Quantity - Longer or bigger?

Said the bishop to the actress!

Generally speaking the bigger the budget, the more fireworks you will have.

Question is do you go for a longer show or a bigger show?

Setting one firework off after another will obviously last longer than setting off three at a time. Three fireworks going off together will create a bigger effect in the sky than one firework.

If you’re considering putting more budget into a show, we would always recommend increasing the quantity of fireworks, rather than the duration of the display.

Quite simply the more fireworks put up at anyone time, the more impressive and awe-inspiring your display will be.

Finally beware of companies offering large quantities of fireworks at low cost. There could be creative accounting at work.

To illustrate what may happen;

1 rocket = 1 firework

But another type of firework called a cake is made up of individual single shot fireworks fused together in a sequence. Cakes can range from 15 shots lasting 30 seconds to 200 shots lasting 5 seconds.

To us;

1 cake with 100 shots = 1 firework

To other firework companies;

1 cake with 100 shots = 100 fireworks

So you can see it very easy to talk up the number of fireworks if you really want to.

Also see how quality can alter the number of fireworks you get.

Quality – you get what you pay for

As with most things in life you get what you pay for.

The quality of fireworks used in displays varies a lot, and unless you really know what you are buying, you won’t be able to tell until you see the actual fireworks in the sky, by which time its too late.

Beware of companies offering large quantities of fireworks at low cost.

More than likely these companies can only make these offers by using low quality, low caliber, category 3 fireworks, as opposed to higher quality category 4 fireworks, which are professional display fireworks.

Also the quality of the overall display design makes a huge impact on your show.

Design – Good design makes all the difference.

Whatever the budget, don’t underestimate the value and skill of display design required to take the raw materials and create a stunning and memorable display.

Through good design and skilful craftsmanship a good firework display company can double or treble the impact of the display compared to other companies.

Music – If at all possible have your display choreographed to music

If it's at all possible have your firework display choreographed to music. It will enhance the overall enjoyment of your show considerably, especially if the music is special to you.

In our opinion, choreographing a display to music shouldn’t cost any more than designing a display without music, as the design effort required is the same for both.

If you have your display designed to music you may need to find extra budget for a sound system.

Most firework companies can provide the PA if required, but normally it is cheaper to get this done by the same people doing the sound for the rest of the event.

If you are holding a wedding or corporate event in a marquee, then the firework music can normally be played over the disco sound system with the sound levels turned up so it can be heard outside the tent.

Venues – Not all venues can have or allow fireworks.

Easiest way to find out if fireworks are possible at a venue is to ask if they have had fireworks before.

If a venue hasn’t had fireworks before, but are willing to have them, then you need to consider where the fireworks could be positioned.

The firing site itself can be on grass, hard standing, a rooftop, or even a barge on water.

The audience can be inside or outside as long as they are more than the minimum required distance from the fireworks.

Go to safety distances for more information.

Safety distances

In very basic terms, the fireworks firing site needs to be positioned 50 metres from the viewing audience, with 100 meters of sterile ground immediately behind the firing site for fall out.

These distances may vary depending on the types of fireworks used, and the prevailing wind.

Whatever the site, make sure your chosen fireworks company does a site visit, and provides you with a full risk assessment and method statement, together with a copy of their public liability insurance.

Logistics, Set-up and Insurance

All quotes for a firework display should cover associated costs including design, transport, setup, firing and insurance. Make sure they do.

Because of fixed costs we think a decent 5 minute firework display should cost around £600.

Anything less, and the quality and quantity of the fireworks will be significantly reduced, which will only mean you are disappointed.

On the flip side, remember that once the fixed costs have been covered, the rest of the budget goes on the actual fireworks, so the more you put in the more you get.

The weather

High winds, low cloud or fog are the only weather conditions that adversely effect a fireworks display.

High winds – especially blowing towards the audience will mean a display has to be cancelled.

With low cloud or fog, a fireworks display can still be fired, but you may not see it all.

Rain itself does not stop a display being set up or fired.