Japan has won the 30th Macau International Fireworks Display Contest, followed by teams from China and France as the first and second runners-up, the Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) said in a statement on Saturday.
The winners were decided by an MGTO-appointed jury.
Japan’s winning display was held on Saturday, while the displays of the Chinese and French teams both took place on National Day, October 1.
The prize-giving ceremony took place at Macau Tower on Saturday night. MGTO Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, Deputy MGTO Director Ricky Hoi Io Meng and Pansy Ho Chiu King, representative of Macau Cruise and chairwoman of Shun Tak Holdings, presented the awards.
The three winners were awarded US$10,000, US$6,000 and US$4,000 respectively.
The winning teams were Japan’s Marutamaya Ogatsu Fireworks Co. Ltd., the Chinese mainland’s Liuyang New Year Fireworks Trading Co. Ltd. and France’s SAS BREZAC Artifices.
Themed “Duo Celebrations for Macau”, the 12 competing fireworks companies each started their displays with the song “Light your fire”. The song was composed by Matthew Lam Chun Yat, the prize winner of the Macau International Fireworks Song Composition Competition last year, according to the MGTO website.
According to the Macau Post Daily, the MGTO’s “duo celebrations” theme referred to Macau’s two celebratory events this year – the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) last Tuesday and the 20th anniversary of Macau’s return to the motherland on December 20.
This year’s Macau International Fireworks Display Contest comprised 12 teams: Australia, Canada, France, Japan, Malaysia, China, Philippines, Portugal, Romania, South Africa, South Korea, and the UK, two more teams than in previous contests.
The contest was launched by Macau’s then Portuguese administration in 1989. The Macau International Fireworks Display Contest has developed into one of the city’s signature mega events and draws a large number of visitors from around the world to Macau every year, according to Saturday’s MGTO statement.
