EXPLOSIONS of colour will illuminate the night sky above Colchester when an annual fireworks display comes back with a bang.

About 8,000 people are set to descend on Colchester’s Castle Park on Saturday for what promises to be a spectacular show.

Organisers King Coel’s Kittens, a charity which supports a range of causes across Colchester, work hard to bring the dazzling show to the town every year.

The fireworks, which will be provided by Stanway-based Dynamic Fireworks for the 15th Year running, cost about £14,000.

Jackie Bowis, chairman and secretary of the charity, said: “We help a lot of different causes by buying tangible items they need, that way we now exactly where the money has gone.

“This year we have supported St Botolph’s Church and Wivenhoe Colne Radio among others.

“We are proud to have been running for the past 47 years without a single break.

“We now get people from across generations approaching us and saying they used to come as a child, or their father used to come along.

“I always watch the New Year’s display along the River Thames and I feel we are on par with that. Our display is the best around.

“Each year has a theme and this year it is the Sixites, there will be 60s music played in time with the display.

“It promises to be quite spectacular.”

Fundraisers Judy and Bernard Alden have put together an impressive Guy Fawkes effigy to be burned on the bonfire.

The Guy, which is stuffed with old Gazette newspapers and paraded through Castle Park, has been made by the couple for 46 years. Mrs Bowis said: “We still have members of the charity who have been here since the beginning in 1962.

“The first display was made up of just £300 worth of fireworks.

“It is always such a community effort.” The gates at Castle Park open at 6pm on Saturday with the display starting at 7pm.

Tickets are on sale, costing £9 for adults and £4.50 for children aged four to 15, and can be purchased online at kingcoelskittens.org/tickets. Tickets are available at the Mercury Theatre or the Visitor Information Centre, in Hollytrees Museum, off East Hill.