This year's Edinburgh International Festival sees its annual spectacular finale take place on Sunday 31 August at 2100 BST. The 45-minute show includes 100,000 fireworks, four tonnes of explosives, hundreds of firing sequences, and the regular silver waterfall which cascades down the north face of the castle.

Having grown in popularity over the years, this is now reported to be drawing 250,000 watchers, but the real figure is probably only 249,998 since I had to give it up a few years ago.

I wonder what the local viewing conditions are like nowadays? With lots of local knowledge, I was able to pick my viewing point anywhere from the Waverley Bridge, through the Royal Mile, even Princes Street once (but it's far too crowded to be enjoyable), and off into the outskirts where the old road at the back of the brewery makes an ideal layby to sit and enjoy the show with a fish supper.

This year's show will be interesting, or maybe not, as it will be the first to feature "silent fireworks"

In a first for Edinburgh, the bangless-fireworks will be timed to complement quieter passages of music at the Bank of Scotland Fireworks Concert, performed live by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.

I was worried for a moment, and was trying to imagine the whole show without the bangs, however it looks as if the big bangs will still be in place.

Watching the show from directly below, in the area of the Royal Mile probably provides the best spot to enjoy the bangs from the biggest shells used in the show, and the spacing of these event means that the all the car alarms that are triggered each time these detonate will have had a chance to reset, and are ready to triggered each time another shell explodes overhead.

Bangless fireworks...

What next?

Dry rain?

Dry rain?

We could do with some of that here.

As I write. it looks as if we will have a day's worth of wet rain here today - still, it was clear and dry in Edinburgh last night. While the rain doesn't really affect the show, low cloud and mist can all but wipe out most of the show.

It's interesting to see how television coverage of fireworks has matured over the years.

I used to find it downright revolting, as the director instructed the cameramen to constantly zoom into the most interesting part of the sky, and insisted on mixing and overlaying two or three cameras in a futile attempt to fill the screen - presumably in the mistaken belief than "more is better". Instead, the mixture of different angles and perspectives just made a mess, and ruined the show.

Now, they seem to have learned that a series of single, realistic shots with no zooming and little mixing is much more effective, and a bit of black sky is not a sin.

Hopefully, one day, they will also come to the realisation that the repeated close-ups of the musicians, with their faces contorted as they concentrate on their performance, are not really that attractive, and the wider shots of the orchestra are much more effective.

Didn't notice the bang free fireworks - but, that was the idea