Ground Fireworks in Portugal

A Catherine Wheel - image from Wikipedia

As many times, I'm again talking about a fireworks type that is very common in my origin country (Portugal) - what we call "ground fireworks" or "fogo preso" in portuguese. There are some types of fireworks that we can call "ground fireworks", but the most interesting I know about are like spinning wheels or "catherine wheels". Usually, some events of real life are pictured using this kind of fireworks, like people riding bikes, animals moving, people dancing, illuminated churches or Catholic saints pictures, because the majority of fireworks shows are related to Catholic feasts. The most of ground fireworks I know are powered by small rocket motors (that cause the wheels to move) and gerbs to illuminate or color the scene. Some of these fireworks have explosions at the end, which usually causes some kind of scare in the public! The sound of the rocket motors powering the wheels is also very exciting! Obviously, fountains and mines are also used as ground fireworks, but these are very common in any place of the world.

Please take a look at the video below, showing some Portuguese ground fireworks:

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