For Canada’s 150th birthday bash, the skies will light up with dazzling fireworks — a tradition dating back to when Canada became a confederation.

The ostentatiousness of this spectacle will be greatly anticipated by many, feared by some — mainly dogs — and probably compared to past fireworks presentations that elicited “oohs” and “ahhs”in the past, most notably the display known as the Symphony of Fire, the grandest pyrotechnics competition that lit up the Toronto skyline on Canada Day for 14 years.

Sponsored by tobacco company Rothmans, Benson & Hedges, the international fireworks competition saw four countries compete each year. The event was held in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver.

Each entry would present its submission over four nights. The spectacular displays, which lasted about 30 minutes, were set to music, and could be heard simultaneously on selected radio stations. The music ranged from classical to rock ’n’ roll and was choreographed by the fireworks companies representing various countries.

At the end of the competition, after the winner was announced, a grand finale was held when each participating nation was given six minutes to wow the crowd.

When the Symphony of Fire debuted on Canada Day in 1987, more than 50,000 people showed up at Ontario Place to watch team Canada, led by Patrick Brault, owner of Concept Fiatlux, a Montreal fireworks company, open the event. The other countries competing that first year were France, the United States and Spain. During that first festival, two million spectators turned out at Ontario Place on the fifth night and ate up the sky candy.

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Businesspeople and community members from the media and the arts judged the competition. The winner was decided based on colour, co-ordination and presentation.

That first year France won the coveted gold medal and Canada secured the silver.

There were a few fireworks of another kind among the competing teams as personalities clashed, recalls radio host Lisa Brandt, who emceed the Toronto event for several summers.

Brandt, described one of these incidents in her blog. In it, she recalls the year a member of the American team was “manhandled a bit” because he tried to take a swing at Benson & Hedges event co-ordinator Doug Henderson.

The American team freaked out when they didn’t win, she said.

“The U.S. approach to the competition was to launch as many fireworks as possible to a patriotic song. There was no finesse, no art, just loud, brash propping of everything they had, while the Italians, for example would use a beautiful piece of classical music and time everything to the nanosecond,” she says.

The Rothmans, Benson & Hedges sponsorship of the popular event would soon fizzle leading to the firework’s competitions ultimate demise. Federal legislation passed in 2000 prohibited tobacco companies from sponsoring cultural and sporting events and Benson & Hedges reluctantly announced in November 2000 that it would no longer sponsor the Symphony of Fire in any of the Canadian cities.

The company told the Ontario Place Corp., which hosted the Toronto event, that it was free to launch its own fireworks program. But if the corporation managed to find funding, it could no longer use the name “Symphony of Fire,” which was owned by Benson & Hedges.

Pizza Pizza stepped up to sponsor a similar festival in Ashbridge’s Bay in 2001. The 20-minute kaleidoscope of colour called the Festival of Fire, attracted other sponsors including the Labatt Brewing Company Ltd., Mix 99.9 radio station and the Toronto Police Services.

Ontario Place did launch its own Festival of Fire show in 2003 with a shift to more domestic performers. Called the Canada Dry Festival of Fire, it ran until 2011, for three to four nights, with fireworks shot into the sky from a 200-metre lake freighter. It was choreographed to themed music that represented various countries and was heard on CHFI radio.

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It was the choreography between the fireworks and the music that made this fireworks festival concept so successful. And the timing was so important. One of the organizers of the Festival of Fire, Fiatlux, told the Star on July 1, 2008 that a team of designers in Montreal worked for three months to get the musical soundtracks in sync with the fireworks at Ontario Place.

“Our timing is down to one-hundredth of a second. That’s what we can control each of the fireworks shells down to when we’re working with the music,” Jeff Chappell said.

In line with that year’s Canada Day theme, skywatchers were told to expect a lot of “regal” golds, as well as reds and whites, which would include a representation of a Canadian flag.

“If you think about the sky as a giant canvas, we try to paint it on the left and right side with red and in the middle of the white for the illusion of a flag,” Chappell said.

The last Festival of Fire took place in 2011. The Ontario government closed Ontario Place in 2012.

This July 1, for the 150th celebrations, Torontonians can look forward to more kaleidoscopes of colour exploding overhead in proclamation of our patriotic pride.

The City of Toronto is hosting fireworks at four locations: Nathan Phillips Square — which is hosting A four-day festival — Mel Lastman Square, Humber Bay Park West and Scarborough Civic Centre.

The music selection for the fireworks is dynamic, current and celebratory, said Justine Palinska, supervisor, special events marketing, economics and development and culture with the City of Toronto. The theme is To Canada With Love.

Meanwhile, Harbourfront is hosting “a brilliant display of fireworks,” said publicist Victoria Lord. Starting at dusk, fireworks set to music will burst over Lake Ontario. It’s inspired by a weekend festival titled Our Home On Native Land. The four-day festival, running June 30 through July 3, will celebrate the creative contributions of Indigenous and new Canadians to the artistic and cultural fabric of Canada, Lord says.