Fireworks Blog

Maybe the most of people that is more familiar with Pyrotechnics already knows how fireworks rising tails are made, but there are others that for sure don't, so, in this short post, that's what I'm going to write about. Basically, the rising tail is like a comet, not only in the effect ( what we see in the air ) but also in the way it is made. This is what it looks like when rising to the sky: Rising tails are used both in shells, mostly in the round ones, but also in some rare rockets ( usually they are not so used in rockets because the rockets already have a "tail" like effect when liffting off ). Actually, most of the small cake shells ( bombettes ) also have a tail effect. For normal sized shells and rockets, the tails are a pressed composition in a small kraft paper casing with a fire-facing side covered with a prime composition for better ignition and are glued to the top of the shell. In cake cylindrical bombettes, the tails are inside the shell ...

The Carnival celebration in Portugal begins on the XI century and is celebrated during the 3 days that precede the Ash Wednesday. In Portugal, the most traditional name for Carnival is "Entrudo", from the Latin word "introitus". During the festivities, people wear scary masks and make lots of pranks with each other. As the Carnival is right before the 40 days of lent, people use it to celebrate the "desires of the flesh", so, everything related to that is practiced during the Carnival festivities. Anyway, lets talk about the "explosive" part of the Portuguese Carnival. During this celebration, the culminanting moment is what we call the "Enterro do Entrudo", or, in English, "The Shrovetide Burial". This is like a funeral procession of a scary puppet with some bombs inside ( usually small salute bombettes ) that is carried inside a coffin through the streets followed by a crowd (some people in the crowd cry during this moment...