Malta’s letters lit up the starry Spanish sky in a fireworks display that won the Għaxaq St Joseph fireworks factory an international award over the weekend.
Competing against five international companies, the Għaxaq company completely dominated the Bilbao XX International Fireworks Display by giving spectators something “different”.
“Everybody said our displays stood out because we had a wide range of fireworks, from ground fireworks to coloured pyrotechnics and petards, which seemed to please the judges,” said David Caruana, one of the fireworks enthusiasts taking part.
“What is normal for people in Malta was really something special at this international event,” he added.
The 20-minute show, displayed last Friday, took 12 enthusiasts from the factory three months to put together.
Competition was tough in the nine-day fireworks festival, which exhibited displays from Australia, Tenerife, Austria and Valencia. The Australian team, Foti International Fireworks, was especially tough to beat, being renowned for its outstanding displays on the Sydney Harbour Bridge every New Year’s Eve. However, the Maltese team won every competition category, which led them to winning the festival itself.
“We were very surprised to win the prize but we got lots of encouragement every passing day from people saying they liked our display best,” Mr Caruana said.
The judges even paid them a visit at the Spanish fireworks factory where the Għaxaq team spent three days preparing the firing mechanism before the show, to see how the team made the ground fireworks, which is unusual for judges to do in the competition.
The three tons of fireworks used by the Maltese team were transported to Bilbao on August 16, five days before the festival started. Mr Caruana admitted that participation was not easy, especially in terms of logistics.
When he spoke to The Times on Friday, Mr Caruana had said: “Sometimes it felt like we were never going to make it but we are here and all is well.”
All ended well too, when the team was handed the award on Sunday.