The sky over Prince Albert will soon be lit up with brightly coloured lights, as part of the annual Canada Day fireworks show. (File photo/ paNOW Staff)

By Nigel Maxwell

Canada Day

Prince Albert residents promised bigger “pop” this year

Jul 1, 2019 | 8:00 AM

The man responsible for running Prince Albert’s Canada Day fireworks show the past 30 years, is welcoming the decision to move the Canada Day festivities from Kinsmen Park to the riverbank area this year.

Allen Stubbs told paNOW he has a lot more flexibility working by the river, adding he is restricted to a smaller show at Kinsmen Park, based on the size of the area he has to work with.

“[A show by the river] gives me the ability to order bigger aerial displays, it allows us to make bigger aerial formations as compared to Kinsmen Park where you can’t do those kinds of shots,” he said.

Weather permitting, Monday’s fireworks are scheduled to start at 10:30 p.m. Stubbs said the cost for this year’s show is above average, somewhere in the area of $7,000.

“So you’ll see something a little different, you’ll see more aerial formations, a wider span of shots, and certainly bigger shots in the air,” he said.

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Stubbs said the most common question he gets asked each year is how long the show will last. He explained he can make any show last half an hour, but added no one wants to see one shot break, wait five seconds before the next one goes off.

“More importantly I think about how much I am putting up in the air at one time. I’ve got to make something that looks nice for the people and something that keeps their attention up,” he said.

Organizing a show like the Canada Day celebration can take months to plan, and is not simply a matter of setting off a number of random fireworks one after another. Stubbs said there is a definite level of showmanship required.

“You really want to beef up the last 45 seconds or a minute. You want people to see a lot of activity in the air and that typically signals the end of the show,” he said

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nigel.maxwell@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell