Christmas and New Year by Celesta
From the opening of the Christmas market to the midnight countdown, we write and produce towns’ end-of-year shows: fireworks, light drones, video mapping on façades and stage effects.
- Free quote
- Registered F4-T2 pyrotechnicians and drone pilots
- Prefecture application processed
- France and abroad
Our end-of-year shows
In December, the squares empty as night falls and community gatherings become few and far between. The end-of-year shows we produce bring the residents of the town together in the same place at the same time.
Celesta is a provider of end-of-year entertainment for local authorities: the company writes, produces and manages Christmas market, Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve shows, from the initial artistic concept right through to a prefecture declaration. Fireworks display, light drone show, video mapping and stage effects act as building blocks that are assembled according to the venue, the expected audience size and the approved budget.
A rural village lighting its Christmas tree and a large town gathering ten thousand people on its quay do not have the same constraints, and we tune the production to each.
Our end-of-year events recent
A selection of recent events, designed and produced for local authorities and public organisers.
Christmas market, family evening and New Year
We distinguish three occasions in December, each with its own audience, time and length, and we write a show format for each.
Throughout December, on several evenings
The highlight of your Christmas market
The huts, the lights and the ice rink set the scene for a Christmas market. The show we produce there adds a date, a time and a reason to come that the town can announce a month in advance.
When organising entertainment for a Christmas market, we favour short, repeated performances: light mapping projected onto the town hall façade, drone sequences above the square, cold flames and ground effects that do not require any pyrotechnic safety perimeter. This argument also persuades high-street retailers to contribute to the funding: the show brings people back to the square at a time when the shops are still open.
- Facade mapping
- Drone light show
- Ground effects
- Without a safety perimeter
Around 20 December
Family Evening
It gets dark before 5 pm: the show can start as late as 6 or 7 pm, in complete darkness, with the children still on their feet. That’s the big difference compared to 14 July, when you have to wait until 10 pm and some of the families have already gone home.
This slot increases the audience: families stay, and the show is linked to the switching-on of the lights or Father Christmas’s arrival. The format is tighter, because the audience is standing and it is cold.
- Shooting at 6 pm
- 8 to 12 minutes
- Suitable for families
On the night of 31 December
The midnight countdown
New Year’s Eve brings together a predominantly adult, late-arriving and densely packed crowd at a single gathering point. The show isn’t announced in advance: it begins precisely on the twelfth chime, to the second, following a shot list timed to the timecode and synchronised with the countdown broadcast over the PA system.
The constraint lies elsewhere: crowd management, perimeters held late into the night, coordination with the municipal police and the emergency services. We write a short format that reads from the first effect, with no introduction.
- Midnight on the dot
- 6 to 10 minutes
- Adult audience
Fireworks, drones, mapping and effects in December
Fireworks displays
Fireworks displays and pyrotechnic displays set to music
In December, our pyrotechnicians adapt the display to winter: the cold air carries the sound further, so they choose the calibres accordingly, and the humidity means the products have to be prepared differently. They write out each sequence in timecode, set to a soundtrack that you approve.
Products in category F4 – Decree No. 2010-455 of 4 May 2010, implemented by an operator holding an F4-T2 certificate.
Drone light show
The drone show – no explosions, no fallout
We offer it for historic town centres, squares lined with houses, and venues where it would be impossible to maintain a safe pyrotechnic zone on a Christmas market evening. The display forms a Christmas tree, a star, the town’s coat of arms or the year’s date in the sky.
In December, we watch the wind and frost above all. We apply for overflight permits from the DGAC and set the cancellation thresholds at the planning stage, so that the decision does not have to be made in a rush that very evening.
Registered drone pilots; flight clearance applications processed by the DGAC.
Video mapping
Video mapping on the town hall façade
For the end of the year, we recommend light mapping: it takes place early, is repeated over several evenings, requires no safety perimeter and works even on overcast nights. The façade of the town hall, a church or a belfry becomes the canvas for a story designed specifically for the local community.
We scan the façade using a laser, record the film based on its actual geometry, and the content remains your property: it can be replayed the following year, with a new sequence added.
Stage effects
Cold flames, snow and ground effects
These are the effects that take place right in the middle of the audience, just a few metres away: cold flames with no heat or smoke, theatrical water jets, artificial snow, and the cascade-style lighting of the Christmas tree. They do not require a safety zone and can be set off just as easily on a pedestrianised street as inside a market hall.
We offer it to towns whose square is too tight for a fireworks display, and as a curtain-raiser before a drone sequence or a mapping.
The hybrid format
Drones, fire and light shows in a single performance
This is the format we propose most often for large end-of-year events: the mapping opens the story on the façade, the drones take the sky, the fireworks close.
Our teams practise all three disciplines and run them from a single control desk, on one time-code.
The constraints of December
Three constraints specific to December decide the format, the slot and the fallback plan. We settle them at the scoping stage.
It gets dark at 5 pm
The venue is completely dark by 5.30 pm: the show can finish before dinner, with the children, without keeping the audience until 10 pm. On the other hand, set-up takes place during the day in a space already occupied by the Christmas market, which requires precise coordination with your technical teams.
Wind, rain and frost
In December, we follow the weather on the day: wind sets the drones’ flight limit, humidity calls for extra protection of the pyrotechnic products, frost slows down set-up. We write the cancellation thresholds and the decision time into the contract, so that nobody has to decide in a hurry in front of the audience.
An audience standing up, and feeling the cold
At 3 degrees, in front of a standing crowd, we write shows of eight to twelve minutes, announced at a precise time.
From the budget vote to the night of the show
We align a December show with the town’s budget cycle: it is decided in spring, with the initial budget. When the subject becomes urgent in the autumn, the budget line has been set for eight months.
01
The approved budget
March-April. The initial budget sets the funding allocation for the year’s festivities.
02
The framing
June to September. The site, the gauge, the time slot and the weather thresholds have been finalised.
03
Writing
October. The soundtrack, script and storyboard are submitted to you for approval.
04
Authorisations
November. Prefecture declaration, designated areas, overflight authorisations.
05
That very evening
December. Set-up during the day, rehearsals, production control, then dismantling overnight.
One point of contact for all three disciplines
An end-of-year event often brings three trades together in the same square on the same evening: pyrotechnics, drone flight and projection. At Celesta, these three disciplines are in-house. A single point of contact leads the creative, technical and safety sides, which simplifies coordination on the night and exchanges with your departments.
- Small, medium and large local authorities
- Measures that can be scaled up or down in line with the approved budget
- A show written for your town
Stock, logistics and local writing
01
Our own depot for December deadlines
In December, our work is concentrated into three weeks. Our ICPE-classified depot lets us meet these deadlines: the products are in stock, transported by our teams and fired by our pyrotechnicians. This organisation secures the lead times and the regulatory chain, from the authorisation request to compliance with the perimeters approved with the prefecture and the civil protection services. Based in Aigremont, in the Yvelines, and present in Normandy, we work in France and abroad.
02
Writing rooted in your local area
Our productions incorporate local history, the town’s architectural heritage and its visual identity: a drone display featuring the town’s coat of arms, a projection mapping show based on the actual geometry of your town hall, and a soundtrack that references an event from the past year. The content produced remains your property and can be replayed the following season.
Compliance and implementation
- ICPE-licensed storage facility
- F4-T2 Pyrotechnicians
- DGAC-compliant drones
- Compliance with prefectural regulations
- Aigremont and Normandy
End-of-year budget and timetable
Before starting an end-of-year project, events departments need three benchmarks: how much to budget, who pays and when to start. Here is what we see on the French market.
8 to 9
Time between the vote and the performance: The initial budget is finalised in the spring, and the performance takes place in December. We therefore start the planning in June.
01
Who is funding the show?
At the end of the year, the organising committee is often larger than it is on 14 July. It brings together the local council, the inter-municipal authority, the tourist office, the festival committee and, very frequently, the town centre traders’ association, which sees the event as a direct driver of footfall. This round-table discussion determines both the decision-making timetable and the amount of funding available.
Involve retailers at an early stage
02
When to launch the project
We start the planning in June, based on the budget approved in the spring. Waiting until the start of the new academic year would mean cramming the creative writing, technical design and submissions into eight weeks, at precisely the time when service providers in the sector are in greatest demand. A commission placed in September is still feasible, but one placed in November is no longer viable.
Shooting in June, order by October
03
If the weather takes a turn for the worse
In December, the risk comes from wind and frost. We set the drones’ flight threshold, the protection of the pyrotechnic products and the decision time at the scoping stage, and we plan a reduced set-up that keeps the date, mapping alone or ground effects, rather than a flat cancellation announced to residents the day before.
Thresholds and the time at which a decision is to be made, as set out in the contract
Figures of the order of magnitude observed on the French market, provided as a guide only and not as a Celesta price list.
The price depends on
- The website
- The gauge
- The duration
- The number of evenings
- The standard of creative writing
Prepare your town’s end-of-year show
Whether it’s a Christmas market, a Christmas party or a New Year’s Eve event: send us details of your venue, capacity and budget, and our teams will provide you with a tailored proposal and quote. Ideally, planning should begin in the spring for a show in December.
- Free quote
- Quick reply
- Prefecture application handled
Your questions about end-of-year shows
What budget should be set aside for a local authority end-of-year show?
In the French market, prices range from 2,500 to 5,000 euros for a municipality with fewer than 5,000 inhabitants, from 5,000 to 20,000 euros for a medium-sized town or a multi-municipal authority, and between 20,000 and 50,000 euros for a large city. A drone show on its own costs around twice as much as a fireworks display of equivalent scale. The price then depends on the venue, the audience capacity, the duration, the number of evenings and the level of artistic creativity.
Can we set off a fireworks display on 31 December?
Yes. A New Year’s Eve pyrotechnic show is subject to the same regulations as those for 14 July: a prefecture declaration must be submitted, safety perimeters must be approved, and the show must be carried out by an operator holding an F4-T2 certificate. The challenge on 31 December lies elsewhere: in managing a late-arriving crowd and in the precision of the timing, synchronised to the second with the midnight countdown. Some local authorities opt for a display at 8 pm for families, followed by a short sequence at midnight.
How can you organise a Christmas market without imposing a security perimeter?
Three media work without a pyrotechnic exclusion zone: video mapping projected onto a façade, ground stage effects (cold flames, jets, artificial snow) and, depending on the layout, a light drone sequence. These formats play early, last a few minutes and can be repeated on several evenings in a row, which makes them well suited to a Christmas market in a pedestrian street or a covered market.
Drones or a fireworks display for a December evening?
We choose first according to the site. For a historic square lined with housing, light drones avoid detonation and fallout and need no wide perimeter. For a large open-air gathering, fireworks carry further and cost less. In December, wind is the limiting factor for drones and humidity for fireworks: in both cases, we set the decision thresholds at the scoping stage. For large end-of-year events, we offer the hybrid format: mapping, then drones, then fireworks.
When should you start planning an end-of-year show?
In the spring, as soon as the initial budget has been voted through, and by June at the latest for the planning phase. Eight to nine months elapse between the vote and the evening of the performance, covering the creative writing, technical design, any consultations and prefecture declarations, including fly-over permits where drones are involved in the production. A commission placed in September is still feasible; by November, however, the regulatory timetable no longer allows for it.
Who is responsible for authorisations?
Our teams prepare the regulatory application and file it with the prefecture: pyrotechnic show declaration, safety perimeter plans, DGAC overflight authorisations for the drones. Your departments are kept informed at every stage and receive the documents to attach to the municipal order.
What happens if the weather prevents the show from going ahead?
We write the cancellation thresholds and the decision time at the scoping stage, then repeat them in the contract. Depending on the case, the show goes ahead in a reduced version (mapping only, ground effects) or moves to a fallback date agreed in advance.