The French team Fantasias will kick off the 2019 International Fireworks Competition!

© Reiter / HVG

The season kicks off with a French flair in the baroque Grand Garden: at the Garden Theater, dreamy chansons from the City of Love meet Berlin’s brash wit. Antoine Villoutreix and his band blend both worlds, infusing their music with swing and folk. The creative poetry-pop trio Milou & Flint coax enchanting melodies from their many instruments on the rehearsal stage and crown them with perfect harmonies—songs that are sometimes cheerfully playful, sometimes contemplative. Meanwhile, quirky cancan dancers show off a lot of leg, Madame Lavande beguiles all our senses with lavender-inspired scents, and a German-French choir delights the audience. So, all is well? Almost everything: Because Asterix the Gaul has lost Obelix and is now setting to work on his own to create a new magic potion.

At 10:00 p.m., the sky above the Herrenhausen Gardens will belong to the French team. Following the 4-minute compulsory routine—this year, an excerpt from Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Egmont Overture”—Fantasias’s approximately 20-minute free routine will begin. Chief designer Delphine Picarat spent about 15 days conceptualizing this show for the Herrenhausen Gardens. “Passion is a consuming fire—fire is a consuming passion”—so goes the evocative title of this promising show. It’s about the art of pyrotechnics, about unbridled passion, about the thunderous sounds, the powdery scent, the array of oversized light effects, and powerful, moving music. Music and fire come together in perfect choreography, becoming the pen guided by the designer’s inspiration. Picarat on her show at the Herrenhausen Gardens: “I hope with all my heart to convey an all-around wonderful feeling to the audience through the music I’ve chosen. I use film scores that I love myself, and I end with a very classical piece—Ravel’s ‘Boléro’—which, to my knowledge, no pyrotechnician has ever used here before.”

The Team: Fantasias

Kicking off the 29th International Fireworks Competition is the only woman to have made a name for herself in the male-dominated world of pyrotechnics: Delphine Picarat. She has already performed four times with other teams at the Herrenhausen Gardens and has consistently enchanted audiences in Hanover. With Fantasias, she has assembled a team that boasts 20 years of experience and international success. Among their achievements are a victory at the Belgian fireworks festival in Knokke-Heist and, of course, first place at the International Fireworks Competition in the Herrenhausen Gardens in 2008.

Tip for fireworks fans

The season pass for all five events (€90) or the family ticket for €54 (valid for one event) for two adults and two children. Both special tickets are available only through the online store and at the Tourist Information office at Ernst-August-Platz 8, 30159 Hannover.
Tickets are available at www.visit-hannover.com/onlineshop, at the HAZ and NP ticket shops, and at the Tourist Information office at

For anyone who would like to combine a visit to the International Fireworks Competition with an overnight stay in Hannover, Hannover Marketing und Tourismus GmbH has put together the “Hannover Explosive” experience package: www.visit-hannover.com/explosiv.

An overview of the remaining fireworks displays in 2019:
June 1: Brazil, Fireworks do Brasil – sold out -
August 24: Italy, Pirotecnica Vaccalluzzo September 7: Czech Republic, Makalu Fireworks
September 21: Japan, Marutamaya Co.

Images for editorial use and other press materials are available at www.visit-hannover.com/feuerwerk-presse.