Programme of Masters de Feu 2018 in Compiègne

On Saturday, September 22, 2018, the Compiègne racecourse hosted the 3rd edition of Masters de Feu, an unmissable event for lovers of grand pyrotechnic displays. Over an evening designed as a crescendo, the audience was invited to discover five fireworks shows, including three competitive performances, around a particularly cinematic theme: “The emotions of cinema.” From the opening of the gates and entertainment to the public jury draw, the international competition and the grand finale, here is the program for this 2018 edition, which pitted France, Canada and Poland against one another for the Silver Master.

A pyrotechnic evening staged as a grand spectacle

Masters de Feu is not just a succession of launches. The event rests on a precise dramaturgy: welcome the audience, set the mood, present the teams, then let the night become the screen for a competition where every second counts. In 2018, the evening was set to open at 6:00 pm, allowing spectators to take their seats, enjoy the catering areas and gradually immerse themselves in the atmosphere of the racecourse. This arrival time is essential: it turns a simple gathering into a full evening, convivial, family-friendly and spectacular.

From the moment the gates opened, spectators were also invited to register at the information point for a chance to join the public jury. This distinctive feature is part of the Masters de Feu identity: the public’s gaze is not only that of an audience member, it can also become that of a judge. In a pyrotechnic art competition, collective emotion matters as much as technique. Giving the public a place reminds us that fireworks remain a living art, created to be felt, shared and discussed.

The Masters de Feu 2018 schedule

At 6:00 pm, the gates of the Compiègne racecourse opened to the public. Catering points were available on site, making it possible to dine or wait comfortably before the competition began. At 6:30 pm, musical entertainment accompanied the arrival of spectators and set the tone for the evening. This pre-show moment, often underestimated, prepares the audience: it brings the venue to life before the first bursts redraw the sky.

At 8:00 pm, the draw for the public jury was one of the highlights of the pre-competition program. The selected participants then joined the evening’s judging panel. At 8:30 pm, the official opening of the international pyrotechnic art competition launched the most anticipated part of the program. Five pyrotechnic shows were announced, with a clear promise: to offer the public two hours of creation, color, music and emotion in the prestigious setting of the racecourse.

France, Canada, Poland: three signatures in competition

The 2018 edition brought together three firework houses, each defending a singular vision of the pyrotechnic show. For Poland, Surex represented a family-owned company founded in 1989, renowned for its music-synchronized creations and its involvement in major international events, including the PYROMAGIC festival in Szczecin. This culture of rhythmic, musical spectacle naturally found its place in a competition where synchronization is one of the essential criteria.

Canada was represented by Apogée, a house associated with Alain Carbonneau. The company has stood out on several international stages and brought to Compiègne a pyrotechnic tradition closely tied to precision, visual power and sweeping tableaux. France was defended by Grand Final, a company founded in 2010 by Stéphane Bazoge and Pierre Emmanuel Gelis. Its approach presents fireworks as a structured stage act, designed in detail, with particular attention paid to design, dramaturgy and adaptation to the venue.

Alongside the three competitive performances, the opening and closing were entrusted to ARTEVENTIA. Already known for creations combining emotion and synchronization, the company brought its expertise in event spectacles to the evening. These non-competitive moments play a decisive role: they frame the competition, establish its level of excellence and give the audience a first and final powerful impression of the evening.

“The emotions of cinema,” a theme made for the sky

The 2018 theme, “The emotions of cinema,” offered a particularly rich playground for fireworks designers. Cinema evokes tension, romance, wonder, suspense, nostalgia and heroism. Transposed to the sky, these emotions become colors, rhythms, silences, explosions, musical rises and contrasts. The challenge is not merely to fire beautiful effects, but to compose a visual narrative that follows the music and carries the audience from one emotional state to another.

In this type of competition, the soundtrack is not just an accompaniment. It structures the show, sets the tempo and requires great precision from the pyrotechnicians. A burst too early, a bouquet too late, an unanticipated break can weaken the emotional impact. Conversely, when fireworks respond perfectly to the music, the sky seems to become a stage, and each sequence takes on the force of a film shot.

A jury chaired by Gérard Jugnot

For this 3rd edition, the jury was chaired by Gérard Jugnot, actor, director and producer. His presence resonated directly with the year’s theme, centered on the emotions of cinema. Around him were Sandra Lou, Philippe Candeloro, Jean Marc Solbes, Jeremy Charvet, Sophie Goupil, Philippe Marini, Antoine Gilibert and Amandine Coclez, Reine du Muguet 2018. This lineup reflected the spirit of Masters de Feu: bringing together artistic, institutional, public and professional perspectives to evaluate shows that are both technical and emotional.

The jury had to rank the competitors according to the quality of their pyrotechnic proposal, their sense of synchronization, the diversity of effects used and their ability to convey the theme. The public, too, played its role in the atmosphere of the competition. For fireworks are judged as much in the moment as in the memory they leave behind: a suspended image, an unexpected color, a finale that draws applause.

A decisive Silver Master before the grand final

The stakes in 2018 went beyond the Compiègne evening alone. As in previous editions, the winner was to receive the Silver Master, a distinction granting access to the grand final of the Gold Master 2019. After Italy in 2016 and Greece in 2017, the 2018 edition was therefore set to name the third finalist invited back to face the best in the super final. The evening thus formed part of a wider cycle, in which each edition gradually builds the lineup for a prestigious final.

This mechanism gives Masters de Feu a particular tension. The spectator attends a complete event, but also a stage in a larger journey. The teams are not only there to present a show: they seek to convince, leave a lasting impression and inscribe their name in the competition’s history. In 2018, the question was simple and powerful: who, among France, Canada and Poland, would win the Silver Master?

Compiègne, an open stage for great pyrotechnic emotions

At the Compiègne racecourse, the format comes fully into its own. The vast spaces make it possible to welcome a large audience and to give firework designers a depth of field equal to their ambitions. Masters de Feu stands out there as an event where the demands of competition meet the generosity of a grand popular spectacle. The 2018 edition, with its five shows, three nations in contention and its cinematic theme, brought together all the ingredients of a memorable evening: a venue, an audience, fire artists and a single promise — to make the sky above Compiègne come alive.