The 10th Malta International Fireworks Festival will next week usher in the fireworks-heavy summer season with a series of local and international displays at Grand Harbour.

The festival will start at 9 p.m. on April 29 with a 10-minute pyro-musical display by Venefuegos Fireworks from Venezuela.

This will be followed at 9.20 p.m. by a showdown between St Nicholas Fireworks Factory of Siġġiewi and Our Lady of Consolation of Gudja, which have six to seven minutes each.

Audience members can vote for their favourite display by SMS on 5061 5025 for the Siġġiewi factory and 5061 5026 for the Gudja factory.

Then it will be the turn of Mqabba’s St Mary Fireworks Factory, with 10 minutes, and Austria’s Pyrovision Ltd with 15.

The first day will bring the noise down a notch or two with music by William Mangion followed by Claudia Faniello on the stage at Ta’ Liesse.

The start of the second day will feature Mqabba again, as the Tal-Ġilju Fireworks Factory initiates proceedings with its pyro-musical display.

This will be followed by a three-way competition by the Lourdes Fireworks Factory of Qrendi (5061 5027), St Mary Factory of Mġarr (5061 5028) and La Stella Factory of Gudja (5061 5026).

The sky above the harbour will then be handed over to Żurrieq’s Mount Carmel Fireworks Factory and the Italian Parente Fireworks Group.

The second day will also wind down with music, this time from Chasing Pandora and Red Electrick.

Speaking at the launch of the event, Mario de Marco, Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism and Culture, said the festival had become a fixture in Malta’s cultural calendar.

Josef Formosa Gauci, chief executive of the Malta Tourism Authority, said such events were part of the MTA strategy to take care of the Maltese touristic product by ensuring that tourists had interesting things to do while on the island.