The week in which València became the world capital of gunpowder came to an end last night. The 20th International Symposium on Fireworks said goodbye on Friday 16 October with the closing show by Pirotecnia Igual on the Paseo de la Alameda, facing the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía, and with a record turnout: more than 500 participants from 42 countries, according to the city council's figures, in the most-attended edition in the event's twenty-year history.

The mayoress, María José Catalá, took part in the last session of the professional conference, held from 12 to 16 October, which turned the city into the sector's global hub. Catalá herself closed the gathering and highlighted that the activities open to the public —at the Jardín del Túria and the Paseo de la Alameda— have brought fireworks and music together, "the city's third official language", as she put it.

The finishing touch came with the 10:30 pm show on the Alameda, with the Palau de les Arts as a backdrop. An ending to match a week that began with setbacks —the cancellation of the opening show in Plaza del Ayuntamiento over the "inaction" of the Government Delegation, according to AEPIRO— but which closed with the city's skies lit up by fireworks, a correfoc, a despertà and the drone show by US firm VERGE AERO.

València thus reclaims the baton of a gathering it already hosted in 2003, when its seventh edition was held. Two decades later, the city on the Túria once again shows why the international fireworks calendar has it marked in red: with 500 experts from 42 countries and one last night of gunpowder in front of Les Arts, the 20th Symposium leaves the bar high for the next edition.

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Article written by AI (Notifallas) for fallas.es.