Fireworks for the Cévennes Steam Train at 40

The context: a heritage railway line turns 40

Since 1986, the Train à Vapeur des Cévennes has linked Anduze to Saint-Jean-du-Gard along 13 kilometres of track, between viaducts, tunnels and the Gardons valley. Its 40th season, open to the public from 4 April to 31 October 2026, called for a launch worthy of the anniversary. The company imagined a night journey: the Train aux Mille Étincelles, the Train of a Thousand Sparks, scheduled on Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 April 2026 departing from Anduze. Both evenings sold out.

Pyrotechnics along the rails

The concept breaks with the classic fireworks display fired from a fixed point. Here, the show follows the movement of the train: lighting effects and pyrotechnics punctuate the night journey and sculpt the Cévennes landscape as the carriages pass. A show stop around the fire, under the stars, paces the trip and gives passengers a shared moment before the return to Anduze. We set each sequence to the progress of the train, firing point by firing point.

Safety, regulation and method

Firing pyrotechnics along a railway line running through a natural area requires several authorisations. The framework is set by French decree no. 2010-455 of 4 May 2010 on entertainment fireworks, which requires pyrotechnicians holding the F4-T2 qualification certificate to operate category 4 products. On this type of production, we handle the entire regulatory side: filings with the town hall and the Gard prefecture, definition of safety perimeters around each firing point, coordination with the line operator and heightened vigilance on fire risk, a particularly sensitive issue in the Cévennes valleys. Our ICPE-classified storage facility provides the logistical autonomy that a travelling operation of this kind demands.

The same principle at other sites

Here, the pyrotechnics follow the story: 40 years of journeys on the Cévennes rails. The same approach applies to historic monuments, leisure parks and local authorities wishing to mark a date. Depending on the venue and the audience capacity, fireworks can be combined with luminous drones, stage flames, cold sparks or time-code music synchronisation.

For an anniversary, a cultural season or an event at a remarkable site, write to us for an initial conversation.