It’s one of the world’s most spectacular festivals, which every year brings to Cannes – just an hour and a half from The Mall Sanremo – hundreds of thousands of visitors ready to turn their gaze to the sky for an incredible pyrotechnics display featuring state-of-the-art fireworks launched from boats anchored in the bay.

This is the Festival d’Art Pyrotechnique Cannes – this year scheduled for 14, 21 and 29 July and 8, 15 and 24 August -, an international competition consisting of magnificently orchestrated firework and music displays, genuine themed choreographies of sound and light performed at high speed, in which every fraction of a second is crucial, as the explosions of the fireworks combine with music from well-known soundtracks.

Innovation, aesthetic richness, staging and synchronisation are the parameters considered by the panel of judges who rate the participants, and also by the watching public.

In 2023 – as happens every fourth year – the displays will be even more spectacular, because the winners of the Vestale d’Argent and Jury Prizes from the previous 3 years return to the Croisette to compete for the Vestale d’Oro.

• 14 July: North Star Fireworks – Norway. Theme: The Divine Comedy
• 21 July: Rozzi – United States. Theme: Hope
• 29 July: Jost – Austria. Theme: Rewrite the stars
• 8 August: Lux Factory – France. Theme: Conscience
• 15 August: Grand Final – France. Theme: Unexpected
• 24 August: Sugyp – Switzerland. Theme: In Tim Burton’s shadow

Six nights on which the bay of Cannes will be bright with a thousand lights, ephemeral stars, colours and much more, courtesy of the world’s top pyrotechnicians.

Each display lasts a minimum of 20 minutes.

(photo: Eric Dervaux)