Buying Advice

BUYING ADVICE - Buy Fireworks Darwin NT

Choosing the best fireworks for your Territory Day celebration can be tricky. There can be a lot of of false advertising, confusing names, effects you have never heard of, and sales staff who have no idea what they are selling!

At TDF we change all of that! Our staff are highly trained to be able to help with all your fireworks questions, and below is an outline of the most common questions people have:

What is a flyer?

A flyer is a firework that is designed to spin on the ground and then fly into the air. They may have wings, fins, or just a rocket engine. Common designs look like Planes, Birds, UFO's, Rockets, Missiles or Bees. Some of these flyers have an effect (eg drop a parachute, or explode), or may just change colour on the way up. Flyers are a great item that offers loads of fun for anyone. Please make sure that the wings are in good condition and that you light them on a flat hard surface (ie not grass or sand!) and have them sitting the right way up. Flyers you will buy in the NT can have up to 40g of powder and may weigh up to 20g when they fall back down.

What is a multishot?

Multishots (also called Cakes) are fireworks that have more than one tube, and fire in sequence. Multishots have a huge variety of effects, the most common being Crysanthemum, Peony, Pearl, Flying Fish, Crackle and Brocade Crown. Multishots you buy in the NT can have up to 100g of powder in them, and therefore offer the most bang for your buck in one item. They also burn for a while (normally 10-15 seconds), giving you a lot of time to enjoy your show. Multishots are sold in assortments/bags as well as individually. The multishots in bags will have smaller and normally simpler effects than the individual items in order to make them more affordable. The individual items will have much larger effects and are more likely to have close to the full 100g allowed in the NT. Fusion Fireworks currently make the highest quality multishots available, although there are some select items from other suppliers that also have very good effects.

What is the loudest?

We try to do decibel testing each year to compare the loudest fireworks, so look on our facebook page leading up to Territory Day for the latest info. Try filtering your search under "Loudest" to display the loudest know items.

Please be aware that the NT Government has now banned salutes, and any fireworks that is louder than 115dBL at 15m. THis has cut a lot of well known items (like thunder kings, Evil Intent etc) and any other items that may have been loud in past years have been modified. Even if it looks the same as last year, it will not be as loud.

For popular loud items, see the relevant LOUD pages for suggestions, or see our facebook page a few days before Territory Day for comparison testing results!

Which one is the biggest?

The biggest single break this year will be the Fusion Mass Detonation single shots. These have the full maximum allowed 40g in a HUGE double break!

The biggest multishot is the TNT from Fusion.

What is best for around pets?

Some pets can be highly sensitive to the noise generated by fireworks. If your pet is disturbed by fireworks, please follow the advice on the RSPCA website.

If you are looking for fireworks that are ok around pets we would suggest choosing fountains, sparklers, flyers (that dont explode) and some of the smaller multishots such as comets. These type of effects will not be anywhere near as impressive as more popular items, but still offer a lot of fun if noise is an issue for you. Please be aware that even the fountains can have some crackle and bright lights that may disturb very sensitive pets.

Can you explain what the effects mean?

There are hundreds of different effect names, and even very experienced pyrotechnicians on our team struggle to keep up with some of the terms! Following is a list of some of the more common effect names:

Salute/Thunder/Report: An effect that is designed to make noise. May have sparks/stars or other effects with it (eg Thunder with pink stars would be a loud bang with pink colours)
Stars: A glowing coloured ball of flaming light
Crysanthemum: A sphere shaped break of expanding stars with tails
Peony: A sphere shaped break of expanding stars
Dahlia: Similar to a peony but fewer stars of a larger size.
Brocade Crown: A gold colour of stars that fill a large area in wide clusters and slowly fall
Willow: Similar to a Chrysanthemum, but the stars burn less brightly and for longer, giving a willow shaped droop effect. Willow can be any colour.
Palm/Coconut: A small number of large comet stars that give an effect similar in shape to a palm tree
Time Rain/Crackle: As they sound - an effect that makes a crackling sound. Normally gold or silver.
Strobe/Glitter: Stars that blink on and off. Usually combined with another effect (eg green strobe peony)
Falling Leaves: Coloured small stars that slowly fall in tight clusters
Crossette: A star that breaks into 4 pieces with tails
Flying Fish/Bees: Stars that wiggle randomly through the sky
Whistle: Loud whistle noise, normally with a gold tail.
Bouquet/Mine: An effect that starts at the ground and goes up in a fan shape.
Comet: A single large star projected straight upwards. Usually with a tail.
Pearls: A set of brightly coloured stars that fall from the sky in a cluster, without a tail.
Fountain / shower of sparks: A constant spray of sparks and small flame/crackle effects that shoots upwards in a fan shape.

So what should I buy?

Family groups with younger kids:

We would recommend that you spend between 60% and 80% of your budget on assortments, with the remaining being spend on high quality multishots, parachutes, ground spinners, single shots and small flyers (larger flyers are not great if you have a young family, as they can fly sideways if not set up correctly). Our staff are always happy to assist.

Adult groups or older familys:

We would recommend about 50% to 70% of your spend should be on pro-range assortments and large multishots, with some money being spend on the family assortments to give you some more display time for your money (more items at a lower price - they will last longer!). Single shots are also a must as they have the biggest effects you can buy. From there it is personal preference as to whether you buy flyers, novelties or a bunch more big stuff. Our staff are always happy to assist.