Molten iron at 1,600°C, struck into the night air with a wooden paddle, falling as a curtain of white sparks thirty feet wide. A thousand years old, and almost unknown outside China.
WHAT IT IS
Iron is melted down on site until it runs like water. A performer takes a ladle of it, throws it upward, and a second performer strikes the stream mid-air with a wooden paddle. The metal shatters into thousands of fragments, each burning white as it meets the oxygen in the air, and falls in a wide slow arc.
Several performers work in sequence, so the sparks never stop. Against a dark sky, or over water, the effect is closer to a waterfall of fire than to any firework.
Nothing else in Chinese performance looks like it, and very few people outside China have seen it.
WHERE IT COMES FROM
Iron fireworks began in the Northern Song dynasty and flourished under the Ming and Qing — over a thousand years of continuous practice. The tradition took root in Henan, Shanxi and Hebei, and the definitive lineage is from Queshan County in Henan, which China’s State Council added to the national intangible cultural heritage list in June 2008.
ING Entertainment is a Henan company. This is not an act we sourced from a catalogue — it is from home.
WHY IT WORKS FOR A PROPERTY
It is the finale. Nothing that follows it will be remembered. Programme accordingly.
It photographs extraordinarily. Long exposure, wide frame, sparks filling the shot. Guests will take those pictures whether or not you plan for them, and so will anyone you invite to cover the event.
It is genuinely rare. Lion dance is familiar to an international audience. Iron fireworks is not. For a resort trying to offer something guests have not seen at three other properties, that difference is the whole point.
It reads at distance. Effective across a beach, a courtyard or a waterfront, for a crowd of any size, with no amplification and no explanation.
WHAT IT NEEDS
This is the most demanding act we offer, and it is better to be plain about that early.
- Outdoor space, with clear ground and a safe distance from guests, structures and planting
- Nothing overhead — no canopy, no rigging, no low trees
- Darkness. It does not work in daylight
- A non-combustible surface and a wet-down of the surrounding area
- Local fire authority clearance, and a safety plan agreed in advance
- Melting equipment on site, which takes setup time before the performance
- Performers work in protective clothing; a trained safety team is part of the booking
Some properties cannot accommodate it. We will tell you at the first conversation rather than at the site visit.
INTERNATIONAL BOOKINGS
Our performers travel. They hold valid passports, work in basic English alongside our bilingual production staff, and are experienced with international schedules and call sheets.
For overseas bookings we normally need four to six weeks for visas and documentation, though we have worked to shorter notice. Costume, props and instruments travel with the company.
We also cast for film, television and commercial shoots. On request we can supply portfolios, full-body reference photography, measurements, unedited performance video, and day and overtime rates.
Want Iron Fireworks for your event?
Send us your site and your dates. We will tell you honestly whether it can be done there, and what it would take.
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