Olly Suckling Animates Ultimate Fireworks Spectacular at Alton Towers Resort with Light and ChamSys

	Photo: Anthony Black

The first recorded official fireworks display in England is said to have taken place in 1486, celebrating the wedding of King Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. Visitors to Alton Towers Resort are reminded of this every November when the renowned resort hosts its annual end-of-season fireworks extravaganza. This year, lighting designer Olly Suckling, now in his eighth year working on the Alton Towers Resort Fireworks, elevated the display to new heights with a bold and vivid lighting design. His creation not only supported the pyrotechnic display but also built a cohesive visual architecture, connecting the spectacle more intimately with the large audience.

Running his light show on two ChamSys MagicQ MQ250M Stadium consoles and a Mini Connect system, Suckling delivered a design that complemented every step of the fireworks display. By arranging much of his rig in horizontal rows of fixtures, he was able to create sweeping movements of light that extended from the main stage out to the larger left and right structures.

"The story behind the show was a large, over-the-top tech weapons expo that gets interrupted by an alien invasion," says Suckling. "The show was interrupted by alarms and warnings multiple times, so the battens in rows allowed us to use a light bar effect to immerse the guests in the atmosphere. This also highlighted the size and scale of the left and right structures."

He adds, "The layout of the battens on the rig naturally lent itself to a variety of horizontal and vertical center-out effects, complemented by dynamic lighting sweeps. Leveraging the ChamSys FX generator with group grid layouts to quickly create horizontal and vertical one-shot effects was an invaluable time saver."

The fast-moving and intense nature of fireworks, combined with their variable qualities in terms of color and intensity, presents unique challenges for lighting designers. Suckling described how his ChamSys consoles were instrumental in navigating these complexities.

"Jubilee Fireworks provides us with a full visualization of the fireworks display, along with a cue firing sheet," he recalls. "We input this into the capture visualizer and use it as a guide while programming, following the creative storyboard as closely as possible.

"Since it's more difficult to adjust the colors of fireworks compared to lighting, we always aim to match or complement the fireworks' color palette. The hardest part is balancing the lighting, lasers, and video with the fireworks, especially since the first time we see the complete show, including all the pyro, is during the first public performance on Friday.

"Programming with intensity and color palettes, using group masters, and cue stack tracking was essential for achieving a balance between lighting and fireworks. For this project, I relied heavily on the timeline with audio feature and the new grid-based FX spread available on ChamSys consoles. The ability to lay out cues quickly and visually align them to the music, while also playing back the show directly from the console, was a significant advantage. Additionally, the console's capability to generate timecode proved invaluable, enabling us to trigger lasers and video seamlessly during previsualization and programming sessions."

He also expressed gratitude to Chris Carter, director of entertainments; Simon Allen and Sam Simkin, the creative team; Luke Welch, his associate; John Slevin, production manager; and Steve Bliss, LCR Projects and live events director.