The Zwarte Cross started at the De Schans festival site in the Achterhoekse Lichtenvoorde and this year the event has a big Deurnes touch. There is a brand new toy in the form of the largest confetti cannon in the world. The maker is the Deurnese company FHT compressed air. The huge device shoots no less than fifty kilos of confetti in the air.
“No better place than the Zwarte Cross to let the scoop of our newest creation take place,” says Fransen Frans Fransen owner of FHT Perslucht Deurne Media Group. “At this festival, many people who find technology are interesting, so this is the perfect target group for our mega-confetticanone.”
Bug
It is not the first time that the Deurnese company has been engaged by the organization of the Zwarte Cross. “We have been working together for a number of years and, for example, have devised a playful way in 2022 to ensure that the tens of thousands of plastic cups, which are left on the site, are cleaned up. Then we made an air cannon with our technology with which the visitors can shoot the cups in a waste bin. Then the plastic can easily be reused.”
The huge confetti cannon from Deurne shoots fifty kilos of colorful chips several times during the Zwarte Cross. “That is really a huge quantity. We fire the Confetti twice a day during the event. The material was made by a good customer of us; Magic FX from Boxtel. They specialize in this and have provided us with confetti that is fully biodegradable,” Fransen explains.
Huge pressure wave
The cannon was built especially for the Zwarte Cross, but there are already other parties who also like to use the confetti monster. “A few other festivals have already announced that they are interested and there is also interest in a number of large DJs,” says the Deurnese entrepreneur.
The device is mounted on a truck that can spit fire in addition to confetti. “It already looks very impressive when nothing happens yet. The moment the flames are shooting up and the confetti is shot, it is not only more impressive. You not only hear the bang, but you also feel the enormous pressure wave that is released. It is of course all done at safe distance from the audience,” says Fransen.