We battled through torrential rain, and then drizzle, then more rain, to attend the Wellington Cricket Club Fireworks last night. The Big Blast talked itself up as Wellington’s biggest firework display. That shouldn’t be too hard, as according to my notes, it’s Wellington’s only firework display.
The Big Blast
Given the conditions and the swamp-like conditions we were expecting, we only moseyed on down at about 6.30pm, an hour after the gates had opened and an hour before the display was due to start. It was the right move. The going was soft underfoot, to say the least. I heard one person say that 3000 guests were expected. The flow of human traffic had churned the grass into a muddy mire. My daughter, obsessed with Peppa Pig, adored it.
There was a small selection of stalls to look around, if you didn’t get stuck in the mud. We grabbed a beer (San Miguel – £6 a pint – eye watering) and took a gander. The little one had a go on the teacups. The haphazard queuing formation meant that this took most of our time up. We queued, everyone else just seemed to jump on at will when the ride stopped. But she enjoyed herself and that’s the main thing.
And a little sizzle
When the time came, we counted down to the start of the display. The fireworks were very good – a decent show of about 15 minutes or so I would guess, although I wasn’t really making a note of the time. I’ve seen more spectacular shows in honesty, but I very much enjoyed it nonetheless.
We paid £8 a ticket for admission and the little one came in free. I had clicked through as I saw a post saying it was the last day for early bird tickets with a pound off, but that had obviously already expired.
Was it the GOAT? Well, not really. Spirits were high despite the weather, but with some very expensive stalls and no bonfire, I don’t know what we would have done if we’d been there for the full two hours. We would certainly have struggled to keep a 3 year old entertained. I’m glad we went for her first firework display, but I don’t think we’ll be back next year.
We paid for our tickets in full, just like everyone else. My opinions are my own, you can’t have them.