Jacob Powlett (left) in action at Schools Spectacular, where he caught the eye of a major fireworks company. Photo: Stephen Barrett.
It’s the light show that welcomes in the New Year — the Sydney Harbour fireworks are beamed around the world in a dazzling display of colour and sound.
Unlike in other years, Karabar kid Jacob Powlett will be helping to stage the fireworks.
He had caught the eye of Foti International Fireworks, which asked whether he wanted to spend New Year’s Eve in Sydney with its team after seeing his work during the NSW Schools Spectacular showcase.
The company has been the hands — and minds — behind the fireworks for years.
“Pyrotechnics has been an industry I’ve wanted to get into for at least a couple of years now,” Jacob tells Region.
It was his second year at the showcase, having worked in the staging team the previous year.
But he says light shows are something special.
“Pyrotechnics is the coolest area of shows — it’s always the bit that gets the most ‘wows’,” he says.
“If you go to a show, you might think the lights are cool … Pyrotechnics takes a very front-and-centre role.
“There’s just something cool about watching all of the practical effects go up on stage.”
Jacob’s plan is to leave home in the early hours of Friday morning (26 December) and drive to Sydney to join in the set-up. (Unfortunately, he’s not able to give any hints about what’s planned for the big show.)
“I’m going to aim to be up in Sydney at about 10 or 11 am. I’ll just get started from then,” he says.
“There’s a couple of days of pretty standard office hours, working from 8 am till 4 pm.”
It’ll be a busy (and hot) few days getting everything ready for one of Sydney’s biggest nights, but once the show is finished, he’ll also be on hand to pack it all up.
“I don’t think you could get away with helping set up and then leaving after the show — I think you might be hanged,” he laughs.
Jacob says he was the only NSW student on the pyrotechnics team at Schools Spectacular. Photo: Jacob Powlett.
At Schools Spectacular, part of Jacob’s job was making sure none of the other students disturbed the indoor firework displays (or even accidentally set them off) as the pyrotechnics team worked to get them in place.
The former Karabar High student says he was the only NSW student on the team.
“From memory, they had the footprint of a large pizza from Domino’s … They were a big rectangular box and had the fireworks modules [attached].
“Your windows are quite small, because it’s usually between sets. You have maybe 30 seconds to get them on stage, turn them on and then get off stage before the lights come back on.”
Jacob’s first taste of pyrotechnics was during one of the school’s theatre productions.
“There were some sparks at the very end of the show, which I operated, but that was under heavy supervision from the Erindale Theatre’s head manager,” he says.
This year, Jacob wrapped up Year 12, along with his VET course, a Certificate III in Live Production and Technical Services.
It means he’s able to assist with displays.
“Getting my pyrotechnics accreditation is definitely on the cards so I can be an operator … but that’s at least a while off from now.”
He wants to keep working in the field, saying helping with Canberra’s Skyfire would be a “really cool” opportunity when it returns in March.
He says his mum and dad, as well as entertainment teacher Stephen Barrett, are all “super excited” for him as he prepares for the New Year’s Eve fireworks.
“[They’re] all very enthusiastic about wanting photos from behind the scenes. I will definitely be taking some photos for them so they can see what it looks like.”
