ABOVE: The Tivoli Fireworks Festival in Copenhagen seen from the top of the Tivoli Concert Hall (from a previous Fireworks Festival). Credit: Rasmus B.S. Hansen.
Copenhagen, Denmark — Tivoli‘s annual Fireworks Festival has become a popular event for Copenhageners and an attraction for visiting tourists who are finishing their Christmas holiday in Copenhagen. At this year’s festival, visitors will get to see 2,000 shooting stars, 1,600 aerial shells, 1,000 airbombs and 120 roman candles – and that’s just some of what awaits. Gunnar B. Knudsen, Tivoli’s pyrotechnician, is the leading Danish exponent of fireworks and has won many international competitions. The festival starts at 20:45 on 25 December.
The Tivoli Fireworks Festival begins with the colours of Christmas. On 25 – 27 December, red, green and gold each have a day in which to dominate the fireworks.
There is a special fireworks display on New Year’s Eve. So it doesn’t clash with the municipal display at Copenhagen City Hall Square, Tivoli’s New Year Fireworks are scheduled for 22:00.
The festival carries on into the new year
From 1 – 3 January, Tivoli launches 2016 with the theme Tempo. One evening starts slowly with gunpowder and firework bombs, after which the fireworks culminate in a fast-paced finale. The next evening it’s the other way around. On the third evening, a completely new type of fast-paced fireworks will be presented, honouring the saying “show it, don’t tell it”.
Award-winning fireworks
Gunnar B. Knudsen, Tivoli’s pyrotechnician, is the leading Danish exponent of fireworks and has also won many international awards in his career, including a silver medal at the international championships in Ottawa, Canada, in 2013. For visitors to this year’s Fireworks Festival, Knudsen promises:
“We will take our visitors on a fireworks tour unlike any they’ve seen before. Lots of visitors watch more than one fireworks display during the festival, so we take pride in not repeating ourselves. This year we have things that have never been seen before. Fireworks walk the line between amazing entertainment and an awe-inspiring, almost frightening experience. It’s that fine line between awe-inspiring and entertaining that we love.”
Fireworks Festival 2015
- –Christmas Fireworks Festival on 25 – 27 December, celebrating the colours red, green and gold
- –New Year Fireworks on 31 December, starting at 22:00
- –New Year Fireworks Festival, 1 – 3 January, with the theme Tempo
The fireworks start at 20:45 every day except for New Year’s Eve, when the display starts at 22:00