Because we have reviewed so many different fireworks, we have presented these in various different ways to help you find what you're looking for. The easiest way to start browsing the reviews is to visit the various review sections. Here the fireworks are split by type, so this is useful if you are looking for a particular type of firework. You can access these sections by clicking on the links along the top or bottom of each section page:

One of the biggest sections, as this is a very common type of firework.
Similar to cakes, but in these fireworks the effects are stacked vertically.
Covering everything from small garden rockets up to huge £25 a time display rockets.
Short but sweet. Some brilliant photography in this section too.
Some of these are not as tame as you might think.
Catherine wheels and similar effects.
Single Ignition Boxes, or displays in a box. Complete solution on one fuse.
Any other firework such as lancework or support item such as portfires.
A digression from fireworks, covering items such as laser pointers.

Each of these sections has its own introduction to explain a bit more about the items being reviewed. You can also learn more from our firework Info Bank.

The review sections each contain summaries of the firework reviews. This is so that you can see "at a glance" the main details of each firework.

The menu also has three other links:

Free review samples for non-members OR Members search facility.
Full review index (see later in this section for more info).
This page!

In each review section as explained above, you'll find a list of each firework of that type, summarised. Here's an example:

In the top left of this summary you'll find the item's name, in this case Wizards Spell. Next to this, a rating if applicable, in this case . These are explained below.

Below the name is the firework brand, manufacturer or importer. In the above example, this cake is from the MLE Pyrotechnics range. Many fireworks are imported and labelled by various companies, so sometimes this information may not be the actual manufacturer, but represent the main UK supplier, for example with the Sandling or Fireworks International ranges. The actual full review normally explains more if there is any ambiguity.

Top right is the price. This cake is £6. For packs, or where the price can vary between suppliers, this information will be a guide only and the review will contain more information. Bear in mind also that prices can and do change between suppliers, or over time.

Below the price is the firework's duration in seconds. This cake lasted for 25 secs. Again this is a guide only. For single items, the duration is measured when we fire them, but remember even the same firework can have different durations - this is normal. For packs, the duration will be a guide, and the review will explain more. Durations over a minute are still expressed in seconds, so 100 seconds is 1min 40s, etc. Timings do not include the fuse burning time.

Next to the duration is a graphic guide to summarise the firework type and effects. This is to give you a very general idea of what the firework does. Here's what the symbols mean:

5 metre safety distance. Also known as a "garden" or category 2 firework.
25 metre safety distance. Also known as a "display" or category 3 firework
Noisy firework. This symbol indicates the firework contains either noisy effects (bangs, crackles, whizzes etc) OR is noisy in operation (powerful shell launches, or loud shell breaks). Most rockets have this symbol because the ejection of their effect is accompanied by a loud bang. This symbol on its own does not necessarily mean the firework specifically has "bangs".
VERY noisy firework! This symbol indicates the firework's sole job is to make as much noise as possible, normally through loud bangs ("reports"), or in the case of multi-shot cakes, that it contains sections of loud reports. For rockets, it indicates the single effect of the rocket is a loud bang.
Interesting sounds. This symbol indicates the firework contains noise effects other than bangs, for example: whizzes, screeches, whistles, pops, crackles or hisses.
Pretty effects. This symbol shows the firework produces pretty effects, such as comet tails, bright colours, glitter or special effects.

The actual reviews will go into more specific details about the actual effects in the firework.

Underneath the yellow summary table is the review summary. This is just a basic comment on the firework. In this case "Nine powerful gold comet to gold break shells in this pokey offering from MLE. Find out more in our full review...". If you're a member, you can now click on the link provided to be taken to the full review where you can also access the pictures and video for this firework (if applicable). The pictures on the left and right are thumbnail images of the item reviewed.

Sometimes the summary will include a graphic. This means the review is new to the site. An graphic means the review has been updated, for example we have added important new information, reviewed a new effect of that firework, or have uploaded more pictures (etc).

By default the reviews are listed newest first. This is to allow regular users to browse the sections and easily access the newest material first. However we appreciate not everyone will want to view the reviews in this order, so each section contains two drop down menus which you can use to re-order the reviews. One changes the order, the other filters the results.

The top menu looks like this:

Use this menu to change the order the reviews are listed in.

Price: List the reviews in price order, with either the cheapest first or the most expensive. Useful for those on small budgets, or those looking for the biggest items we have tried.
Duration: List the reviews in duration order, with either the shortest or the longest first. Bear in mind some fireworks (such as mines and rockets) have durations listed as zero, as they are over in one shot.
Brand: List the reviews alphabetically by brand, so for example Black Cat items would be listed before Shellscape. Useful for grouping reviews together if you are buying from a specific supplier.
Name: List the reviews in name order, alphabetically.
Default: Newest reviews first, irrespective of any other information.

The bottom menu looks like this:

Use this menu (if required, you don't have to) to filter the reviews, ie. only display the ones you want. You can select options from both menus at the same time, if you like.

Show all: List all reviews.
Garden fireworks only: List only those reviews which are garden fireworks ()
Display fireworks only: List only those reviews which are display fireworks ()
Best Buy only: List only those reviews which are rated as .
Best Buy and Recommended only: List only those reviews which are rated as or .

Click "GO!" when you have made your choices. If there are a lot of reviews these might be displayed over more than one page and links will be provided at the bottom of the page so you can navigate from page to page.

Next to the firework's name will be a rating, if applicable to that item. The lack of a fixed scale, such as a percentage rating, is intentional. Fireworks create an aesthetic effect. In other words, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Some people don't like fireworks unless they bang. Others hate loud noises! Since it would be impossible to please everyone, we prefer to take an different approach.

Our reviews therefore state the factual performance of the firework, and our opinion is restricted to our impressions of its performance based on price and others of the same type, for example. We leave it up to readers to decide if a particular firework is suited to their tastes, or suitable for their display.

If we think a firework is extremely good for its type, we give it a rating. Different fireworks can get this for different reasons. Rockets are always very short duration, for example, so one could be awarded a best buy because it offers great effects or good value for money and not because it lasts a long time. Cakes and candles may get a best buy because they have powerful effects for their size and price. In all cases please read the review itself to see why we have given this accolade.

Sometimes we think fireworks are very good but not quite a best buy. Maybe there is an alternative from another manufacturer that does the same thing for less money. Maybe it doesn't last long for the price - but is still very good. Fireworks missing out on the best buy rating can get the rating if they are still very good. Recommended fireworks are often still superb and may even be more appropriate to your tastes - or your display - than best buys. Again the important point is to read the review itself since we often state how we rated it.

Generally if a firework is very good it will be recommended and if it goes a little bit further and really impresses us, we'll give it a best buy.

Contrary to what you may be thinking, if a firework does not have one of the above ratings, it does not mean we don't like it. Some very good fireworks do not receive any ratings. Sometimes a firework is very good but overpriced. Sometimes the effect may be so specialised only a few readers would find it suitable. And sometimes it may be one of dozens of fireworks that do the same thing - only not as good or as cheaply as others (which will be the ones we recommend). Again, reading the review will show you what we think. Never base your shopping list just on the "Best Buys" because you may be missing out on other good fireworks suitable for your display.

Our new review database also includes a rating. As the name suggests, this means that we do not yet have a complete review of the item. First impressions are uploaded after a review session to get the basic information on the site such as duration, initial comments and second opinions. A full review will then normally follow in due course. We also use this to share information on fireworks we have seen, but might not have been able to conduct a proper review on. Although do not constitute a full review with pictures and video they can still be very useful.

Finally, we also now provide reviews where both the material and the review itself are submitted by a reader. To distinguish these from the official UKFR reviews, we use the graphic. These reviews are useful because they will allow extra material to be added to the database that would otherwise have only been available through a reader feature, or the forum. To try and ensure that such reviews are bonafide, we normally only include them where the review can be substantiated by a submitted video or some pictures. Please note that we cannot vouch for the accuracy of reader reviews for obvious reasons, and that we may not have even seen the item ourselves.

Not all readers will want to browse the reviews by type, and many prefer to see a complete list of all our current reviews. These are provided in the review index which you can access by clicking . Here's an example of a review as it would be listed on the index page:

Name: The name of the item. This is also a link to the full review if you are a member. Next to the name will be any rating, and or if applicable.
: This symbol provides a link to the review summary, if you are a non-member. This will show the same information as in the review summary sections, without you having to find the actual summary yourself. Use this to see price and duration.
Brand: The manufacturer or importer.
Type: The type of firework (also shows what review section it will appear in).
Key: The graphical key, taken from the review summary.
Static shots?: Yes indicates there are "static" shots and members can view these by clicking on "Yes". Static shots are normally pre-firing shots of the actual firework and the label and anything else relevant. Not all reviews - for example really old ones - have static shots. Sometimes we are also unable to photograph the firework before firing it.
Action shots?: Yes indicates there are "action" shots and members can view these by clicking on "Yes". Action shots could include photographs of the firework in action, video grabs (more common) and the page will also contain links to any video clips if there are any for that firework.

As with the main review sections, you can re-order the listings if you like. There are two drop down menus. Use the top one to change the order, the bottom one to filter the listing.

The top menu looks like this:

Default: Lists the reviews in the default order, which is sorted by brand, alphabetically. Thus, all fireworks for the same manufacturer are listed together.
Name: Lists the reviews in name order, alphabetically, regardless of brand.
Type: Lists the reviews by type, eg groups all cakes together, all candles together and so on.

The bottom menu looks like this:

If you want to list only certain reviews, you can also use this menu.

Show all: List all reviews.
Garden fireworks only: List only those reviews which are garden fireworks ()
Display fireworks only: List only those reviews which are display fireworks ()
Best Buy only: List only those reviews which are rated as .
Best Buy and Recommended only: List only those reviews which are rated as or .

Click "GO!" when you have made your choice. If the list is split over several pages, links will be provided at the bottom of the page so you can navigate.

If you are a member, you can access the full review of any item (non-members see the free page for examples). Here is an example:

The top yellow heading will contain the same information as the review summary. Below this is the full review. This contains the same thumbnail images as the summary but now you can click on these to take you to further pages (ie. the static shot page, or the action picture and video page).

Depending on the review, further information may be presented. This includes "UKFR second opinion" which is normally the firer's opinion. "Reader second opinions" include comments made about the firework by e-mail and in the forum. If you have an opinion, let us know!

"Technical, safety & other info" will contain more information such as measurements, in some reviews.

These additional pages are provided with some of the reviews.

Static shots are normally pre-firing shots of the actual firework and the label and anything else relevant. Not all reviews - for example really old ones - have static shots. Sometimes we are unable to photograph the firework before firing it.

Action shots could include photographs of the firework in action, video grabs (more common) and the page will also contain links to any video clips if there are any for that firework. We use a mix of action shots - some are grabs from the video footage, some are from a digital camera, and some are from a standard SLR (film) camera. The actual pages will explain more.

You can access these extra pages direct from the reviews index page, or from the actual review by clicking on any thumbnail which is there.

Please remember that all our content is copyright - please do not steal our pictures and video for any reason.

We are proud to be able to offer video clips for many fireworks and with most of the newer reviews that are uploaded.

Where the firework has the same effect all the way through, we will often provide just a short clip of ten seconds or so because this will give you an idea of what the effect is like and this saves space and download time.

Newer clips are in Windows Media format. We recommend you obtain Windows Media Player version 7 or above. Please note that we are unable to provide technical support for the video clips. If you experience problems, you normally just need to download a newer version of Windows Media Player. We have chosen Windows Media because it offers the best quality at realistic file sizes - Real Media is not really suited to fireworks video, and MPEG files are too large.

Please do not stream the video clips (try to play them directly from the server)! Our server is not set-up for streaming, although it may appear to work if you are a broadband user, your computer is just downloading the whole file then playing it. Please save the video clip first, then play it.

Newer video clips are now also "zipped" to compress them further. You will need an unzip program to first uncompress them back into Windows Media files. If you do not already have such a utility, they are easy to find on shareware sites such as www.zdnet.com or www.tucows.com or from most coverdiscs with high street PC magazines.

We cannot stress enough that your opinion counts! If you have tried a firework please let us know what you thought. We want the reviews to be a foundation of firework information, and to build on these with your opinions in the reviews and in our forum. You can e-mail us: fuse@firework-review.org.uk or post your comments in the forum.

There are a few important things we should point out about our reviews. All review comments are offered as our opinion only, and we accept no responsibility for the accuracy of them. We can only comment on the actual firework tested, and stress to readers that fireworks do vary in performance and duration. It is not uncommon, for example, for manufacturers to change effects which could cause the firework to behave differently. This is one reason we invite your opinions and offer a forum for you to post your comments. Please also remember that all our review material is copyright, and you should not copy any part of this site without permission. For more information please see our site terms and conditions.

If you still require information on a particular firework, for example one we have not reviewed, try our forum first. We get a lot of e-mails from non-members asking "Have you tried..." and in general we are unable to respond to these although we will try. Joining and posting your question in the forum will however put your query to dozens of other members and someone, somewhere can normal help you.

Have fun and enjoy the reviews!

Pyro Pete,

Editor