People around the world love to celebrate big occasions. From their country’s independence day to traditional festivals, there’s pretty much an event every single day somewhere on Earth. Many celebrations are all about partying and food, both of which are good things. But, a tradition that isn’t so great is fireworks. Don’t get me wrong, I loved them as a kid. Those loud and bright sparks brought a lot of joy; however, adult me realizes that they aren’t so awesome for many people and animals. The noise can be triggering for some people with military PTSD or sensitivity to sound. And pets generally hate them. So, how do you present a dazzling display in a way that is enjoyable by all and protect the environment? Studio Roosegaarde has a solution to this problem with SPARK Bilbao, the silent and environmentally friendly organic wonder that could replace traditional fireworks.
As we first learned via Mashable, SPARK Bilbao is an organic firework made of biodegradable light sparks. The countless specks of light move and shift together in packs, much like a group of fireflies would in the night sky. Details about the science behind it are sparse (gotta protect intellectual property) but it seems this awesome project is moving forward pretty quickly.
Artist Daan Roosegaarde will bring SPARK Bilbao to The Wellbeing Summit for Social Change in Bilbao-Biscay, Spain in May 2022. And the organic, silent fireworks aim to be available for communities to use to celebrate a new year, national holidays, and whatever else you’d set off fireworks for. While they aren’t the first fireworks alternative, they are certainly unique and seem to do more good than harm.
SPARK Bilbao might become the new way that we have a public party with organic fireworks. And I am on board with this cool initiative.
