The most magical story of all is about to be told...
The most magical story of all is about to be told...
Fireworks Spectacular
Alton Towers' annual Fireworks Spectacular took place from Friday 3rd to Sunday 5th November 2023. Following the delayed 40th anniversary celebrations in 2021 and last year's Festival of Thrill, both of which featured screens and special effects surrounding the audience, this year's show was a return to a more traditional fireworks experience.
The theme was similar to that of many past fireworks events, showcasing a magical day at the park with sections of the show set within different parts of the theme park. Music-wise, there were the usual pop mixes together with more than the show's fair share of tracks from Two Steps From Hell.
It began with a woman's voice announcing "And now it's time for a story...", followed by a slow, dramatic, rumbling version of In the Hall of the Mountain King. Ironically, although the voice went on to talk about how Alton Towers has been telling stories since the day it was created and that "the most magical story of all" was about to be told ("it is the story of today: the story of you"), there was very little in the way of storyline during the show.
Instead, the focus was on fireworks, music and lasers. After the introduction, a Mutiny Bay section had the audience join a pirate crew, boarding galleons and preparing for battle to the sounds of sea shanties and Shiver Me Timpanis by Two Steps From Hell & Thomas Bergersen. Fireworks were well used in this section to give the feel of a sea battle, complete with massive ground shaking explosions at the end.
The Smiler
Back on dry land, we made it to Katanga for an adventure down the River Congo. It wouldn't be Alton Towers fireworks without a Smiler invasion, which came next as the audience was invited into The Laughter Laboratory to receive their daily dose of Ministry of Joy approved happiness. A medley featuring Queen's classic Don't Stop Me Now, Outkast's Hey Ya, Taylor Swift's Shake It Off and Let's Go Crazy from Sing 2 belted out, with colourful lights and fireworks ensuring a feelgood party atmosphere.
A change of both pace and mood followed, as the show moved on through Gloomy Wood to Alton Manor. Emily Alton was projected onto a water screen in the lake, with the climax of this section having her seemingly conducting the fireworks and launching them into the sky with her hands. Unfortunately the projection wasn't particularly bright, making what was clearly supposed to be the "wow" moment of this year's show a bit of a disappointment.
With the focus having mainly been on areas and supporting rides rather than the park's more traditional concentration on the big rollercoasters, it was time for the concluding part. "What a story! What a day! ... which brings us to now ... your happy ending!" said the voice, trying to sound as unironic as possible given the preceeding lack of narrative or fable.
Finale
The finale section began with one of the tunes most regularly heard at Alton's fireworks shows: Take That's Greatest Day. You could almost have guessed this was where we were heading right from the start of the show!
But of course the show couldn't actually end there: as has become tradition, there was still In the Hall of the Mountain King to come. This year, though, the park steered away from the specially composed version mixing in the Hex theme which they have used for the last few years (probably wisely since Hex has been closed all season). Instead the show ended with a much shorter, more synth heavy cinematic version and the monstrous deafening sound of hundreds of fireworks simultaneously exploding above the famous Towers themselves.
Post show, rather than the oft-used Best Day Ever from One Direction, a much more contemplative mood descended as a version of the Willy Wonka classic Pure Imagination played to bookend the event. Start the rumours about a return of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory now folks.
Visitors to Alton's Fireworks events have been treated to big budget celebratory affairs for the last two years, but with the country spiralling downwards in the midst of a cost of living crisis it was perhaps unsurprising that this year's show was smaller in scale. Setting aside the narration's bizarre insistance that there was a storyline to follow (which was definitely Pure Imagination), the show worked brilliantly as a traditional fireworks and music event.
Extra fencing in the car parks
Main entrance
Setup on the lawns
Preshow stage in front of The Towers
Plastic matting was in place over the grass
Light testing
Fireworks event merchandise
Reduced menu in Corner Coffee
Outside catering stalls brought in
Today's shows
View from Battle Galleons
Large lighting rigs were put up behind the lake
Long smoke pipe to add mist in the air
Fireworks setup
Event power
Crowds gather on the lawns
Mist begins
A foggy path
Preshow atmosphere
The show begins
Fireworks in the sky
Lasers
Hearts
Bursts
Yellow
Ground launches
Red white and green
Emily Alton conducts the display
The Curse
The Greatest Day
The end ... well, almost
Finale
After the show
The Towers lit up
Alton Towers Fireworks Spectacular 2023
