How a display is run safely
Fireworks are classified as pyrotechnic material, and what makes a display safe isn't good intentions — it's specific procedures carried out in a known order. This page sets out what we commit to, what we need from you, and what your guests need to know, because safety here isn't one party's responsibility.
One rule before all of the below: aerial fireworks are never used inside buildings, and nothing is fired without the required official arrangements. If someone offers you either, decline regardless of the price.
What the crew does
- Measuring the safety distance between the launch point and the nearest place guests will stand, and marking it physically on the ground before setup begins.
- Checking the surroundings for what must never be launched near: fuel tanks, storage, overhead power lines, dry trees or grass, and emergency exits.
- Measuring wind direction and speed immediately before firing — not relying on yesterday's forecast. Over the safe limit means the display is postponed or cancelled.
- Securing the launch point so nobody outside the crew can reach it throughout setup and the display.
- Fire-suppression equipment ready at the launch point, with one crew member responsible for it alone and taking no part in firing.
- Electrical firing from a safe distance — never hand-lit.
- Sweeping the site afterwards for any shell that failed to function, and clearing all debris before the crew leaves.
What we need from the host
Five things we can't arrange on your behalf:
- Confirm in writing that the venue, resort or owner permits launching on the grounds. Many Riyadh venues require sight of the permit in advance, and discovering this hours before the event is an expensive problem.
- Tell us about anything sensitive nearby that we can't see: close neighbours, animals on a farm or resthouse, elderly guests, or infants among the attendees.
- Don't add elements to the display yourself. Consumer fireworks bought at a market are not part of the design, and introducing them invalidates every safety calculation made for it.
- Keep the emergency access route the crew marks out clear — no cars parked in it.
- Give your event coordinator the exact display timing so it doesn't collide with a moment when guests are in the wrong place.
What guests need to know
Four instructions, announced once before the display:
- Stay behind the marked guest line. The distance isn't approximate — it's calculated for the specific shell heights in use.
- Don't approach the launch point before or after the display, even when it looks like everything is over.
- Don't pick up any debris from the ground afterwards, and keep children away from it. Residue can still be hot or not fully consumed.
- Keep young children away from the edge of the guest area, and place anyone holding an infant on the side furthest from the noise.
When the site won't allow an aerial display
Some sites can't carry an aerial display at any scale: enclosed halls, tight residential perimeters, and locations near flight paths or sensitive facilities. In those cases we don't shrink the display until it "passes" — the answer is a different technology.
Cold-spark fountains don't work by combustion: a metal alloy is heated electrically until it glows, then cools quickly in the air. No open flame, no smoke, no shells — and they're used directly above a stage indoors.
Even so, "cold" does not mean "risk-free." The unit itself gets hot, the material at the nozzle is genuinely hot, and a minimum clearance remains from low ceilings, drapes, sprinkler heads and smoke detectors. Anyone who tells you it's completely safe and goes anywhere without calculation doesn't understand what they're selling. The full comparison.
When we postpone or cancel
We always arrive with a fallback plan, because sometimes the decision isn't ours or yours:
- Wind above the safe limit for the designed heights. Either the design drops to lower altitudes on the spot, or it's postponed.
- A change at the site since the survey — a marquee erected over the launch point, cars parked in the emergency route, far more guests than expected.
- The programme running late to the point of conflicting with the timing agreed in the official arrangements.
We tell you the reason at the time, not after the event, and agree the alternative: adjusting the design, moving the display to another point in the evening, or substituting indoor cold spark where that's possible.