Lib Day fireworks let off early ‘before crowds went home’
Wednesday 11th May 2011, 2:29PM BST.
LIBERATION Day organisers have apologised to those who missed the firework finale after a decision was made to set them off earlier than planned.
But Guernsey Event Company managing director Alex Bridle said as logistics event organisers for Culture and Leisure, the company could not have hoped for a better day.
‘The sun shone, apart from a couple of short showers, the wind was not howling in from the east, and the sheer number of people in St Peter Port right from 201 Squadron’s parade to the end of the LibRock concert was nothing short of breathtaking,’ she said.
‘There were approximately 3,000 to 3,500 people on Albert Pier as The Killerz finished and the decision had to be made to either wait for 10 minutes to launch or to launch at the earliest opportunity. Given the pier was already emptying, the decision was to launch the fireworks so that as many people as possible could enjoy them.’
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Lovely photo of the fireworks – somebody must have be prepared and got a good vantage pitch in good time!
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The people were leaving the Albert Pier to go home. I don’t think the majority cared about the fireworks or they would have been happy to hang around for 15 minutes. You just can’t advertise something then move it forward, people had come in especially to see them. We was only lucky to catch them as we came in at 10pm in error.
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I live along Les Banques and the grass verge is usually covered with cars and people who come especially to view the firework display.
This year only three cars were there early enough to catch the display with everyone else pulling up/arriving as the display finished.
If you advertise something at a specific time then run to schedule.
Very disappointing and a very poor management decision.
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If people weren’t interested enough to hang around for a few minutes, perhaps the money could be better spent elsewhere?
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To be honest it’s not like we all never see fireworks….so some people missed them on lib day there will be plenty more in November!
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Agreed Stu, it was a very poor management decision and unfortunately poor decisions are becoming a way of guernsey life.
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We missed half of the fireworks too. We were on our way to a vantage point at Les Cotils when they started and got there in time for the finale. It seems very wrong to try to placate people who could not be bothered to wait 15 minutes at the cost of disappointing those who were turning up for the advertised time. Perhaps if whoever made this stupid decision is made to pay for the half of the fireworks wasted he or she might learn from it.
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We get a lot of fireworks displays throughout the year, whether public or private. I think a lot of us have reached saturation point and no longer consider fireworks to be a treat.
I love fireworks displays but I didn’t go, because you can have too much of a good thing.
Perhaps if we kept the fireworks to special anniversaries (e.g. every 5 years) it might whet the appetite and encourage more people to go.
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