ARTEVENTIA in Japan: a pyrotechnic finale for Omagari Hanabi – Spring Chapter

On April 25, 2026, ARTEVENTIA had the honor of participating in one of the most prestigious pyrotechnic events in the world: Omagari Hanabi – Spring Chapter, in Japan.

Held in Daisen, in Akita Prefecture, at the iconic Omagari Hanabi Park, this event marks the opening of the Omagari pyrotechnic season each year. It brings together Japanese and international artists around a shared ambition: to create a dialogue between tradition, innovation, and emotion in the night sky. The 2026 edition took place on Saturday, April 25, from 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM, with approximately 8,000 pyrotechnic pieces scheduled for the program.

For ARTEVENTIA, this invitation carried a particular resonance. Coming to create in Japan, in a country where pyrotechnics are at once an art form, a heritage, and a deeply rooted culture, calls for a certain humility. The point was not to come and demonstrate expertise, but to enter into dialogue with one of the most demanding traditions in the world.

“Omagari isn’t a festival like any other. You arrive in a place where the audience truly understands pyrotechnics, where every detail is scrutinized, where the quality of a product, an opening, or a composition is immediately perceived. It forces you to be extremely precise in the composition,” explains Édouard Grégoire, ARTEVENTIA’s artistic director.

“Rise the Stars”: a finale creation celebrating elevation

Invited to design the festival’s pyrotechnic finale, ARTEVENTIA created a production titled “Rise the Stars.”

Conceived as an ascent toward light, this finale was built around a simple and universal concept: elevation. That of the stars, of course, but also that of emotions, gazes, and the collective energy that emerges when an entire audience turns its eyes to the sky.

This theme was also a tribute to the Japanese men and women who, through their craftsmanship, precision, and sensitivity, have been creating magnificent pyrotechnic stars for generations. These artisans behind the scenes shape moments of light that illuminate the Japanese sky and contribute to the unique brilliance of Japanese pyrotechnic art.

Through “Rise the Stars,” ARTEVENTIA thus sought to salute this tradition of excellence, while offering a more personal composition—more narrative, musical, and architected—capable of bringing the festival to a close in a spectacular surge.

“We absolutely did not want to try to imitate a Japanese composition. That wouldn’t have made sense. The idea was rather to come with our sensitivity, our way of working with music, rhythm, and space, while showing absolute respect for the place and for the pyrotechnic culture that was welcoming us.”

A 300-meter display and 42 firing positions

For this finale, the ARTEVENTIA teams deployed a large-scale setup: a 300-meter pyrotechnic frontage, 42 firing positions, shells up to 200 mm in caliber, and a composition designed to embrace the full width of the site.

That width makes it possible to compose differently. Where a tighter setup naturally concentrates the gaze, a 300-meter frontage offers the possibility of letting energy travel, creating call-and-response between the ends of the site, and playing with offsets, depth, and breathing space.

The show can then become a true spatial scenography. Some effects sweep across the frontage, others appear in mirror, some tableaux are built in layers while others rise gradually into the sky, up to the largest calibers.

“A large frontage should never be filled just to be filled. What’s interesting is being able to work with movement, create tensions between several zones, and then sometimes bring everything back to a single point. It’s this ability to let the space breathe that gives the finale its power.”

Each firing position was thus integrated into an overall score in order to maintain a clear, dynamic, monumental reading. The aim was not to multiply visual information, but to build a legible, expansive, progressive finale, capable of remaining faithful to the idea of elevation that structures “Rise the Stars.”

A meeting between French pyrotechnics and Japanese tradition

Participating in Omagari Hanabi represents a significant milestone in ARTEVENTIA’s journey. The festival is renowned for its artistic rigor, the precision of its execution, and its deep connection to the history of Japanese fireworks.

In this context, the creation of “Rise the Stars” was an opportunity to showcase a French approach to pyrotechnic performance: an emotional, structured, musical, and visual composition in service of a narrative.

But this encounter goes beyond the question of style alone.

It also lies in a different way of looking at the pyrotechnic product. In Japan, certain pieces are considered works in their own right, crafted with a precision that can require months of work. Their symmetry, their evolution, and the purity of their colors are an integral part of the experience.

For ARTEVENTIA, working in this environment therefore means accepting that the power of a show can also be born of precision, of waiting, and sometimes of a single perfectly placed effect.

“What’s fascinating in Japan is this ability to give immense value to a very simple moment. A single shell can provoke an incredible reaction because it is perfect and because it has been given the space to exist. It’s a real lesson in staging.”

This experience naturally fuels the thinking of the Bureau des Créations. Because taking part on the great international stages is not only about presenting your work to a new audience. It is also about testing your composition against other performance cultures, other relationships to rhythm, and other ways of stirring emotion.

A defining moment for ARTEVENTIA

Creating the finale for a festival such as Omagari Hanabi – Spring Chapter is a strong recognition of the artistic and technical work carried out by ARTEVENTIA.

Beyond the performance, this project will remain above all as an encounter: between pyrotechnic cultures, between crafts, between a French team and a Japanese audience deeply devoted to the art of fireworks.

With “Rise the Stars,” ARTEVENTIA delivers a finale defined by elevation, sharing, and wonder.

A finale of just a few minutes, a 300-meter frontage, 42 firing positions, and calibers reaching up to 200 mm.

But behind these figures, the Omagari experience above all reminds us of something essential: in performance, power does not always come from what you add.

Sometimes it comes from the precision with which you choose a single moment.

And from the way you give it time to become a star.