Events

2010 Event

PRESS RELEASE 1/11/10 – Fantastic Firework Display

Porgordon Firework Committee had the smart idea to plan two dates for their annual firework display. Fortunately there was no requirement for their back-up date as the Friday was a glorious evening with only a light Southerly breeze to carry the burning embers into the evening sky.

Maynes Coaches provided an excellent shuttle service which was great to see spectators use so well to ease some congestion as Portgordon has narrow streets and limited parking.

With the Buckie & District Pipe Band adding the extra sparkle to the beginning of event by parading from Hope Street to the rear of Flicks Hairdressers and giving a full twenty minutes of lovely music prior to the countdown for the Firework extravaganza.

Once again the firing team made up of Ian Legge, Kevin and Steven Gunn, David Robertson and with assistance of Bernard Wojick carried out a full twenty minutes of various arranged fireworks show and their own fantastic finale was timed to perfection along with music supplied by Wave Radio from Elgin.

With no delay after the Portgordon team had set off their display the skies were filled with even more bombardment of aerial beauty which was carried out by professional firework company Fireworx Scotland who were recently voted the winners of the Scottish Firework Championship.

The huge crowd were entertained by far more than the excellent fireworks display as the committee had stalls selling glow items, a bottle stall and there were catering vans along with the funfair.

The Stewards and Collectors supported the committee once again and encouraged the spectators to part with their generous donations which the event relies upon. Adam Robertson as the main Steward gave the team a briefing prior to the start of the event so everyone knew what was required of them in an emergency.

Chairman of the firework team Kenny Gunn has said " We run the local event on very limited funds and rely on the spectators to give donation to provide for the next year show". Without every single helper this could not happen to the level it does and annually those helpers await the call for asistance and duly turn up to assist. Local businesses must also be praised for various form of help not financially by by giving the use of items like generator, truck, fencing, advertising, lighting and bottles for the stall and Kenny would like to thank them very much indeed.

Special thanks must be given to Michael Neish for road patrol and guiding the traffic up the hill as the lower part of the village had no more parking. Appologies go to local residents for parking restrictions but it was only for a limited time. The large crowd had come from various areas, some had travelled specially from Alness, some from Aberdeen, Kennethmont and Inverurie so hopefully when the coins are collected there will be sufficient funds for next year to get Portgordon on the map once again.

PRESS RELEASE 18/10/10 – PORTGORDON FIREWORKS DISPLAY 2010 REMEMBER: Portgordon Fireworks to brighten the sky on Friday 29TH OCTOBER

Portgordon Fireworks annual spectacular is to be held earlier this year on Friday 29th October at 7pm. Buckie District Pipe Band will lead up to the 7.15pm start of the 25-30 minute duration of the firework display.

It will also include a specialised pyrotechnic Finale to be carried out by Fireworx Scotland from Inverurie. The finale has partially been sponsored by Garry & Alison Farquhar, from Aberdeen.

The annual display is normally held the week before or after other larger displays such as Banff, Elgin & Forres and the organisers have to plan this event around the tides and any Halloween events so are really hoping for good weather.

As we had to cancel last year’s event due to extreme weather conditions, we have made provision this year that should the event have to be postponed it will be held the following evening of Saturday 30th October 2010 following the same timetable.

It is essential that the large numbers of spectators are well catered for and Portgordon Fireworks Committee certainly do their utmost to make the event so special for the small village and the surrounding area. With various stalls selling glow rings & flashing necklaces, the bottle stall, burger kiosk, teas & coffees and the Funfair ensuring there is something for everyone.

There will be parking for approximately thirty cars in the special Disabled Parking area which allows for access to the spectator area and the funfair but also provides really good comfortable viewing of the display.

Fireworks are even more expensive with a big increase over last year and the organisers will be hoping for really good collections in the collecting buckets and hope all the spectators and those viewing from their cars will dig deep into their wallets to help cover the costs of the event. The cost of hire of barriers, the Red Cross and various other extras to be paid for.

We are very grateful to Springfield Properties (Elgin) for the loan of fencing for Disabled Parking and around the site.

In order to ease congestion Maynes Coaches of Buckie have donated and will operate a Park & Ride scheme leaving from the Buckie Drifter car park at 6.30pm then Cluny Square at 6.35pm, Land Street at 6.40pm and finally Great Western Court at 6.45pm. After the display Grand Finale a coach will make a return trip leaving at approximately 8pm from Flicks Hairdressers. A fare of only 50p each way is required.

Please Note: there are no toilet facilities on site and we hope you will be comfortable for the display duration.

Remember to wait for the spectacular finale!!

As usual we recommend that pets are kept inside from 7pm till approximately 8pm on the night of our event.

Children should be accompanied by an adult.

No other fireworks including sparklers, bikes or skateboards will be allowed on site.

Please keep roads clear to allow for emergency vehicles other road users and service buses. Residents will be advised of any road closures & restrictions.

Keep up to date by checking our website – www.portgordonfireworks.co.uk

Enquiries to - Kenny Gunn

2009 Event

PRESS RELEASE 02/11/09– PORTGORDON FIREWORKS DISPLAY 2009

High winds forced the cancellation of the highly popular Portgordon Fireworks event when the organisers had to make the hard decision to cancel with less than one hour to go before the event.

Chairman, Kenny Gunn and his dedicated team of helpers had spent two days securing the spectator and disabled parking areas prior to the event and were fully committed to setting of their fantastic display on Sunday. The date had been chosen well in advance by the committee as they never wish to hold their event on the same night as other local displays at Banff and Elgin. As Halloween was on Saturday the team had picked the Sunday night for the first time as many parents and their children travel from near and far to the spectacular so the team did not want children missing out doing their trick and treating in their own localities.

The decision to cancel so late in the day was made by firing team, Ian,Joe, Kevin, Steven and Kenny purely because of the increase of the wind on the pier. Rain was not the cause of the stoppage as the fireworks were well protected and all set-up ready to be fired after the Buckie and District pipe band were to start the event.

Kenny wishes to thank all the loyal stewards who turned up and were on site to ensure safety of the spectators. He also wishes to express his thanks to many local businesses and individuals who had donated towards the events' bottle stall, the free use of barriers from Springfield Properties, Charles Milne ( MPD Homes ) for the use of his truck and John Robertson (North) for the generators. Sadly Flicks were un-able to provide their normal teas and coffees too. Maynes Coaches were able to advise some who were intending taking advantage of the park and ride that the event was off.

Their would have been a really good crowd as even after the cancellation there were droves of cars came to the village to be advised by the rain soaked steward of the event being cancelled for this year. Many had travelled from as far afield as Lossiemouth and Portsoy. The road closure application and many other requirements only allow for that specific day so there will be no re-scheduled date this year.

On the full scale of things after the cancellation there have been people forced out of their houses and floods on local roads so as we were only there to entertain for an hour it was not a major problem.

Fingers crossed for better weather next year.

Regards

Kenny Gunn and the fireworks team.

 

PRESS RELEASE 25/10/09– PORTGORDON FIREWORKS DISPLAY 2009 REMEMBER: IT’S EVEN EARLIER ON 1ST OF NOVEMBER

Portgordon Fireworks annual spectacular is to be held earlier this year on Sunday 1st November at 6pm. Buckie District Pipe Band will lead up to the 6.15pm start of the 25-30 minute duration of the firework display.

It will also include a specialised pyrotechnic Finale to be carried out by Scottish Firework Champions – Fireworx Scotland from Inverurie. The finale has gratefully been sponsored by Garry & Alison Farquhar, from Aberdeen and with money from Chairman Mr Kenny Gunn who’s family & friends donated towards several of his chosen charities and the fireworks at his BIG birthday earlier this year.

The annual display is normally held the week before or after other larger displays such as Banff, Elgin & Forres. We also did not want to clash with Halloween on Saturday so we gave careful decision to having it on Sunday.

The committee apologise in advance to any Church services taking place in the locality for the excess noise.

It is essential that the large numbers of spectators are well catered for and Portgordon Fireworks Committee certainly do their utmost to make the event so special for the small village and the surrounding area. With various stalls selling glow rings & flashing necklaces, the bottle stall, burger kiosk, teas & coffees at Flicks Hairdressers and the FunFair ensuring there is something for everyone.

There will be parking for approximately thirty cars in the special Disabled Parking area which allows for access to the spectator area and the funfair but also provides really good comfortable viewing of the display.

Fireworks are even more expensive with a big increase over last year and the organisers will be hoping for really good collections in the collecting buckets and hope all the spectators and those viewing from their cars will dig deep into their wallets to help cover the costs of the event. The cost of hire of barriers, the Red Cross and not forgetting the actual fireworks must be paid for.

We are very grateful to Springfield Properties for the loan of fencing for Disabled Parking and around the site.

In order to ease congestion Maynes Coaches of Buckie have donated and will operate a Park & Ride scheme leaving from the Buckie Drifter car park at 5.30pm then Cluny Square at 5.35pm, Land Street at 5.40pm and finally Great Western Court at 5.45pm. After the display Grand Finale a coach will make a return trip leaving at approximately 7pm from Flicks Hairdressers. A fare of only 50p each way is required.

Please Note: there are no toilet facilities on site and we hope you will be comfortable for the display duration.

Remember to wait for the spectacular finale !!

As usual we recommend that pets are kept inside from 6pm till approximately 7pm on the night of our event.

2008 Event

Something something.....

2007 Event

PRESS RELEASE 25/10/07– PORTGORDON FIREWORKS DISPLAY 2007 REMEMBER, REMEMBER IT'S THE 10th OF NOVEMBER

Portgordon Fireworks annual spectacular will be held at the harbour on Saturday 10th and will this year include a specialised pyrotechnic training event for up to twenty four people from communities within the Moray area this has been made possible through Leader Funding (LAG) provided by The Moray Council to encourage training.

The annual display is normally held the week after other larger displays in the area such as Banff, Elgin & Forres. This allows for the droves of spectators to go to either one or two fireworks events & get double entertainment.

It is essential that the large numbers of spectators are well catered for and Portgordon Fireworks Committee certainly do their utmost to make the event so special for the small village and the surrounding area. With various stalls selling glow rings & flashing necklaces, the bottle stall, burger kiosk, teas & coffees at Flicks hairdressers and the funfair ensuring there is something for everyone.

There will be parking for approximately thirty cars in the special Disabled Parking area which allows for access to the spectator area & the funfair but also provides really good comfortable viewing of the display from their cars.

Events with fireworks are very expensive and the organisers will be hoping for really good collections in the collecting buckets and hope all the spectators will dig deep into their wallets to help cover the costs of annual insurance which alone is around £ 900. The cost of hire of barriers, the Red Cross and not forgetting the actual fireworks must all be paid for. We are very greatful to Springfield Properties for the loan of fencing which is used at the Disabled Parking and other parts of the site.

The event starts at 7.00 pm with the fireworks from 7.15

And in order to ease congestion Maynes Coaches will be operating a Park & Ride scheme leaving from the Buckie Drifter car park at 6.30pm then Cluny Square 6.35, Land Street 6.40 and finally Great Western Court 6.45. After the display Grand Finale a coach will make a return trip leaving approx 8.00pm from Flicks.

Please note - there are no toilet facilities on site and hope you will be comfortable for the duration of the display. With the three teams being trained and marked for their efforts there may be a short delay between shows BUT remember to wait to the very end as the fourth display will be carried out by a professional team from Preston and it will be spectacular !!

As usual we recommend that pets are kept inside from 7.00 pm till approx 8.00 pm on the night of our event.