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08-12-2013, 04:55 PM
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Sunday, June 13, 2010, 11:32
Mqabba to attempt fireworks world record
Mqabba fireworks factory plans to break the Guinness world record for operating the largest pyrotechnical Catherine Wheel during the village feast on Saturday.
Members from the Our Lady of the Lilies fireworks factory have been working for over a year to build a wheel which they hope will be larger than 85ft in diameter - the size of the current record-holder.
Adjudicators from the Guinness Book of World Records will be present when the wheel is lit on Saturday evening, and will award the certificate if all goes well. In order to be deemed successful, the wheel will have to complete at least one 360 degree turn.
Keith Dingli, from the factory, said he preferred not to reveal the size of the gigantic wheel before Saturday to add some curiosity to the fireworks display.
The Catherine Wheel, he explained, turned with the power generated by rocket-like fireworks that are lined along its diameter.
Mr Dingli explained that, in order to ensure public safety, the wheel will be fired from a field at a distance that exceeded the 30-metre buffer zone being requested by insurers.
Last year, a 33-year-old woman was injured when she was hit by a flying piece of burning wood that was dislodged from a Catherine Wheel during the celebrations to mark Għaxaq's feast of Santa Marija.
While calling on the public to respect the buffer zone, he added that the wheel would be supported on the vertical part of a tower crane to ensure it remained stable.
Sunday, June 13, 2010, 11:32
Mqabba to attempt fireworks world record
Mqabba fireworks factory plans to break the Guinness world record for operating the largest pyrotechnical Catherine Wheel during the village feast on Saturday.
Members from the Our Lady of the Lilies fireworks factory have been working for over a year to build a wheel which they hope will be larger than 85ft in diameter - the size of the current record-holder.
Adjudicators from the Guinness Book of World Records will be present when the wheel is lit on Saturday evening, and will award the certificate if all goes well. In order to be deemed successful, the wheel will have to complete at least one 360 degree turn.
Keith Dingli, from the factory, said he preferred not to reveal the size of the gigantic wheel before Saturday to add some curiosity to the fireworks display.
The Catherine Wheel, he explained, turned with the power generated by rocket-like fireworks that are lined along its diameter.
Mr Dingli explained that, in order to ensure public safety, the wheel will be fired from a field at a distance that exceeded the 30-metre buffer zone being requested by insurers.
Last year, a 33-year-old woman was injured when she was hit by a flying piece of burning wood that was dislodged from a Catherine Wheel during the celebrations to mark Għaxaq's feast of Santa Marija.
While calling on the public to respect the buffer zone, he added that the wheel would be supported on the vertical part of a tower crane to ensure it remained stable.