Hanover International Fireworks Competition: Our Scottish evening in the Herrenhausen Gardens

Fireworks and Scotland: until then, that combination had never made it onto our list of days out. When we saw that, of all teams, a Scottish one was competing at the Hanover International Fireworks Competition, we honestly didn’t need to think twice.

So we asked friends we’d already travelled around Scotland with whether they’d like to come along. And just like that, a simple fireworks visit turned into a shared Scottish evening in the Herrenhausen Gardens.

By the way, at that point we hadn’t quite realised that the International Fireworks Competition runs across several evenings, with different countries performing each night. The fact that Scotland of all evenings happened to fit our schedule was perfect, of course. Next year we might even go and watch several of the shows.

Scotland, in the middle of Hanover

We arrived at the Herrenhausen Gardens at around 5:45 pm. Beforehand, we had checked the website to see when it all kicks off, what you’re allowed to bring, and whether there’s food on site. That’s how we knew we were allowed to bring our camping chairs*. And with that, our seats were sorted.

Walking in, we first passed the kids’ programme and then made our way pretty quickly to the bagpipe band. And of course a bit of Scottish feeling creeps up on you when people in kilts are standing in front of you playing the bagpipes.

The traditional music suited the evening really well, even though, if we’re honest, it isn’t the kind of thing we’d listen to at home. When we do put on Scottish music, we like it a bit more modern, something in the direction of Cammy Barnes, say. Still, the pipe band simply belonged to this evening and made for a lovely start.

After that, we watched Andy Snatch. Honestly, neither him nor his show had been on our radar beforehand, so we had absolutely no idea what to expect.

In the end, it was a mix of tightrope walking, juggling, and comedy. Paired with his English accent and a few scraps of German, it was genuinely quite funny. Gina kept bursting out laughing, and Oli found him entertaining too. It wasn’t something we’d have driven to Hanover for specially, but it was exactly the kind of act you never planned for and are happy to take along anyway.

There was also a choir, which we watched for a little while. The performance didn’t really grab us, though. So we set off to look for a spot for the thing we had actually come for.

Finding a good spot

We already knew beforehand that, alongside the regular tickets, there were so-called front-row areas. There, you could sit closer to the fireworks site and had your own patch for a folding chair or a picnic blanket. For the Scottish evening, those tickets had already sold out.

So we found ourselves a spot in the regular area, put up our chairs, and got comfortable. There was still a good while to go until the fireworks, but that didn’t bother us one bit. We sat together, chatted, and ate the snacks we had brought along.

At some point, the men wanted to head off once more and get some proper food. We had specifically checked beforehand whether there was catering on the grounds, so we had expected picking something up there would be easy.

No such luck: we only spotted four or five stalls, each with a limited range on offer. The queues in front of them were so long that, even with more than 30 minutes to spare, the men gave up and came back to our seats empty-handed. A few more options here really wouldn’t hurt.

Thankfully we had our snacks with us. For a proper meal, we simply went to KFC after the event.

Scottish fireworks: stunning colours, gloriously long, and set to the music

At 9:30 pm, the fireworks finally began.

Pretty quickly it became clear that this had very little in common with the ordinary, short fireworks you might know from a village fair. The show lasted about 25 minutes and was set to music the whole time.

There was an incredible number of different colours and effects, and we found the moments especially cool where the fireworks appeared in the sky in perfect time with the music.

There were Scottish sounds in between, later on other music as well. Some of the songs sounded familiar, although we couldn’t tell you exactly which ones they were.

We both really enjoyed the fireworks themselves. Especially with the music and all the different effects, it felt far more like a complete show than just a few rockets going off in the sky.

Unfortunately, we realised pretty quickly that our spot hadn’t been chosen all that cleverly.

No clear view: we underestimated the hedge

There was a hedge in front of us.

When we sat down, we honestly hadn’t given it a moment’s thought. The fireworks happen in the sky, after all, or at least we thought so.

The high effects we could see really well. Everything happening a bit lower down, though, sometimes simply disappeared behind the hedge. And when the fireworks are the main reason for your visit, that is of course pretty annoying.

Since the front-row spots had already sold out, there was nothing we could change about it that evening. Next time, we will pay much closer attention in the regular area to finding not just a comfy spot, but one with a genuinely clear view towards the fireworks site.

So our spot was perfectly fine for sitting and waiting. For the full fireworks, unfortunately less so.

Our Insta360 X4 had the better view

Thankfully we had our Insta360 X4* with us. We were able to attach the camera a bit higher up in the hedge, and it actually had a better view of the fireworks than we did.

When we watched the footage back at home, we suddenly saw effects that had partly passed us by on the night.

The fact that of all things our camera ended up with the better seat was a little absurd, but in this case also pretty handy.

Our camera: Insta360 X4

We use the Insta360 X4 on our travels and days out too. That evening it was especially useful, because we were able to position it higher up, which means we can now watch parts of the show that were blocked by the hedge from where we were sitting.

What we didn’t enjoy so much

Besides our restricted view, there was one more thing we didn’t find particularly pleasant: the toilet situation.

On site, we mostly saw portable toilets, which isn’t great for an event where lots of people spend several hours on the grounds. There are better solutions around these days. Toilets with running water and soap so you can wash your hands are worth wanting for hygiene reasons alone.

Whether there were other sanitary facilities on the grounds that we simply didn’t see, we can’t judge.

Everything else about the crowds felt surprisingly relaxed. Of course it was busy, but it never felt uncomfortably packed to us. The waiting time until the fireworks wasn’t a downside for us at all, either.

By the way, we already knew the Herrenhausen Gardens from earlier visits and like them very much in general. That evening, though, we didn’t take a proper look at the gardens themselves. Our focus was clearly on the programme, our friends, and later, of course, the fireworks.

And then we still had to get back to the caravan

After the fireworks, we first went to KFC. Then we dropped our friends off at home and finally set off back to the caravan in the middle of the night.

That drive turned out to be even more of a struggle than expected. Oli was pretty tired by then, and while we made our way along the dark country roads at 2 am, it felt like every wild animal in the area was out and about. We saw four deer, a fox, and eventually even a whole group of wild boar, roughly 15 to 20 animals.

After that, we really did drive very slowly.

At some point we arrived back at the caravan in one piece and were simply glad to finally get into bed. That’s not quite how we had pictured the end of our otherwise pretty relaxed Scottish evening.

Would we go to the fireworks competition again?

Yes.

We both enjoyed the fireworks so much that we even briefly considered driving to Hanover again two weeks later for the Sweden evening. That weekend, though, we already had other plans.

If we go to the Hanover International Fireworks Competition again, there is one thing above all we would do differently: put a lot more thought into our choice of spot.

The fireworks really are beautiful enough that we would happily watch them again, but next time hopefully with a clear view.

We would quite like a clear view for ourselves, after all, not just for our camera.

Visitor information

Location

Herrenhäuser Str. 4, 30419 Hannover (DE)

Team

Fireworx Scotland Ltd

Fireworks start time on our visit

9:30 pm

Duration

approx. 25 minutes

Front-row areas

Sold out for our date. They also sold out within just 1-2 days for next year.

Our most important tip

When choosing your spot, don’t just look for somewhere comfortable to sit, but also make sure you have a clear view towards the fireworks site.

Tickets & current dates

Official website of the Hanover International Fireworks Competition

Instagram

@feuerwerkswettbewerb_hannover

@herrenhaeuser_gaerten