Hello From South Africa

[WidowMaker]

Hello Everyone,

I'm from South Africa. As a kid, I remember my happiest times being associated with cultural festivals that involved fireworks. I've always been fascinated by them. Now into my ripe old age I'm STILL just as excited by fireworks as I was when I was a kid. The entire process; shopping for them, admiring the packaging, waiting for nightfall and then setting them off... even looked forward to the next day of cleaning up my yard and looking at all the remains...

I'm not a professional pyrotechnics specialist. I've only used commercially available stuff at home. DIY pyrotechnics are not legal in this country either and getting the materials to do it anyway is near impossible.

the golden age of fireworks for me was from 1990 to 2000... I was a kid. I relied on my parents to fund my purchases. The stuff WAS expensive so the budget was limited but it was still so much fun and there was so much excitement... later on in life into my late teens and early 20's life got tough, some years went by with no celebrations.

eventually I entered the Job market, and i was able to afford my own fireworks... I felt a bit dumb because i was a grown adult shopping for things typically marketed to kids, but now I could afford some of these bigger cakes that I would never have dreamed of setting off as a kid in 1995.

I'd like to learn more about the jargon, the technical stuff, as well as look into what it takes to take this up professionally as a side hustle.

[displayfireworks1]

Glad to have here on pyrotalk forums. I welcome fireworks enthusiast from around the world to join. Here in United States most of us know very little about fireworks in South Africa. I see you are in the upper section of South Africa near the Botswana border. Are consumer fireworks sold near you? If you cross the border into Botswana are fireworks sold there also? There is a professional fireworks company located near you in Muldersdrift, are you familiar with them?

[Lanni]

Welcome~I am learning about fireworks too, maybe we can make progress together LOL :p

[WidowMaker]

Hi Again,

Thanks for the warm welcome.

I am currently in a province called Gauteng, it is the economic and political hub of the country. It is in the north, but there is still some space between this province and Botswana. I have sadly never been to Botswana.

Some fireworks are sold near me, but the best stuff can be found around the east coast in Durban (my hometown). Fireworks are huge there, and there are a few minority ethnic groups that do some massive scale importing of consumer grade fireworks around this time of year. I typically go back down to Durban to visit the folks and enjoy some fireworks. They aren't that strict about when they can be set off. Other areas on the other hand are very strict. They are even banned in some cities.

We get mostly Brothers, Winda, Standard and Black Cat. we get a lot of smaller novelty stuff. lots of crackers, like the widowmakers hehe.

i know of the professionals you speak of. I have seen some of their work on TV. they do not cater to commercial needs. they are strictly for big budget events only. they will not sell equipment or goods to the public. I once tried to get some electric matches from them to make my own igniting system. they refused to sell to me.

[Rick_In_Tampa]

WidowMaker - Welcome aboard!! Your story about how you experienced fireworks growing up mirrors my own. Although, my "golden age" was a few decades earlier than yours. Having said that, I'd argue that today is my platinum age!! Back in the 70's I was able to buy things like M-80's that I just can't get today... But today I can (and do!) get cases and cases of consumer grade pyro, and shoot them electronically. That was not even on my radar back in the 70's. Most of what I learned that allowed me to take my game to the next level I learned on here. So you definitely came to the right place!! Lots of very VERY smart and experienced pyro's on here. So don't be shy. Jump right in and ask lots of questions!!

Again... Welcome aboard!!