The story
Ignis Brunensis in Brno
Ignis Brunensis began in 1998, alternating between national competition and non-competitive exhibition formats in its earliest years before becoming a stable international competition from 2003, typically featuring four or five countries. Held over roughly two weeks each late May and early June on the reflective open water of Brno Dam, with shows every Wednesday and Saturday, it draws between one hundred thousand and two hundred thousand visitors and has recently added large-scale drone displays alongside traditional pyrotechnics.
Ignis Brunensis, Latin for the Flame of Brno, began in 1998 and spent its first several years alternating between formats: some early editions ran as a national fireworks competition, in 1998, 2000 and 2002, while others were staged as non-competitive exhibitions instead, in 1999 and 2001, before the event settled into a stable, significant international competition format from 2003 onward, typically featuring four or five competing national entries each year.