AUSTRALIA: Riverfire by Australian Retirement Trust once again ignited the Brisbane skyline in early September, opening the 2025 Brisbane Festival with a breathtaking fusion of pyrotechnic artistry and aerial spectacle. Drawing nearly half a million spectators to the city’s riverfront, the show delivered an unforgettable sensory hit with Foti International Fireworks’ meticulously choreographed display synchronised to Royal Australian Air Force flyovers. For this year’s edition, global cinematic broadcast specialists The HELM were invited to bring an entirely new level of precision to timecode distribution and synchronisation across the sprawling event footprint.

The project extended The HELM’s long-running collaboration with Foti International Fireworks, with timecode reliability deemed mission-critical. “As rock-solid timecode delivery was critical for the event, we took a hybrid UHF and SD-WAN approach,” explains Paul Barrett, Co-Founder and CTO at The HELM. The team deployed two constant-transit UHF bases across key high-rise locations to deliver both frequency and geographic redundancy, with barges receiving dual-radio signals to maintain uninterrupted sync throughout the performance.

To connect the broader broadcast ecosystem, The HELM engineered a formidable SD-WAN backbone using bonded 5G, Starlink and fixed connectivity solutions tied into its private cloud servers. This network stretched from the waterfront show site all the way to Channel 9’s Mount Coot-tha broadcast facility, where the same timecode triggered audio playback and aligned perfectly with the network’s live commitments. For organisers, the hybrid approach delivered rapid deployment, ironclad stability and an unprecedented degree of flexibility for a show of this scale.

“What made this project so rewarding was seeing broadcast and live event workflows merge so effortlessly,” Barrett reflects. “By combining UHF, SD-WAN and cloud control, we were able to deliver absolute precision and reliability across every part of the production.”

The Brisbane Festival team echoed the sentiment. “This year, we engaged The HELM to provide technical expertise for delivering timecode to multiple locations across Brisbane City. The team’s expertise and the service they provided were flawless throughout the process,” says Tim Pack, Technical Director for Brisbane Festival. “I highly recommend their services and will definitely engage them again for next year’s display!”

Foti International Fireworks shared similar praise. “I would like to thank Paul and Nick from The HELM for their expertise and energy in delivering the timecode and soundtrack streaming. Despite a short turnaround and multiple stakeholders involved, their organised and collaborative approach helped deliver a great result,” adds Tim Gray of Foti International Fireworks Pty Ltd. “We look forward to working with them again.”