Hanabi YouTube

In Japan, we have a tradition of enjoying huge firework events in the summer. On weekends in July and August, you can often see girls on their way to a hanabi taikai (fireworks festival) in colorful yukatas, a popular summer kimono for women when going out to fireworks events. But of course, it doesn’t have to be summer to enjoy beautiful fireworks, as this stunning video from Vietnam proves!

First, just sit back, relax and enjoy the magnificent fireworks display in this time-lapse video by Asia-based photographer Rob Whitworth. Be sure to crank up your speakers and hit that full-screen button!

Isn’t that simply breath-taking? The images in this video were taken during the DaNang International Fireworks Competition held in the city of the same name on April 29 and 30 this year. But this wasn’t any ordinary firework show– this was an internationally recognized fireworks contest with teams from USA, Russia, Japan, Italy and Vietnam competing.

Team Melrose Pyrotechnics from the U.S. won top honors in the competition, but as far as we’re concerned, everyone lucky enough to see the dazzling fireworks in person must have felt like a winner!

It’s also a pleasant treat to be able to see not just the fireworks, but the various sights of De Nang as well in the video, especially the gorgeous city lights at night. As you might expect, however, such an exquisite piece of work isn’t created easily — according to Whitworth, an astounding 15,901 images were used and about 180 hours of work were put in to complete the video.

Well, we’re certainly grateful for the visual feast! We’ll leave you with an additional “bonus” video of the fireworks competition from the Epic Fireworks site, also taken by Whitworth from a skyscraper located right next to the launch site, which the writer at Epic Fireworks stresses is shaky iPhone footage and not something that was shot professionally, but which we think still gives you some very exciting close-up view of the fireworks. Enjoy!

Source: Kotaro Blog (Japanese)
Vimeo
Epic Fireworks
Top Image: YouTube