Royal anniversary

This may be the 30th anniversary Royal Fireworks Festival and Concert, but when the celebration starts Sunday afternoon, it will still be Britain, circa 1749.

Once again, Spokane’s Allegro: Baroque and Beyond will take over part of Riverfront Park and transform it into the mythical village of Riverdell in that long-ago time.

As always, things will hit full stride with the afternoon arrival of King George II and his court, which launches an array of merrymaking from music to dance to a live chess match.

And as always, the festivities will be capped by a nighttime performance of George Frideric Handel’s “Musick for the Royal Fireworks,” choreographed to a live fireworks display.

This year’s fireworks will be bigger and better than ever, says Allegro’s David Dutton, honoring the 30th anniversary of both the festival and the park itself.

Instead of beginning midway through the third movement of Handel’s five-movement piece, he says, they’ll start with the second movement.

Dutton allows that he never expected the event to last for 30 years.

“We have a lot of fun with it, but it is a lot of work,” he says.

“I don’t think we’re going to make it to 50, but 35, 40 maybe – if I can get some other people to haul some stuff around instead of me doing it all.”

It began in 1978 as an evening concert highlighted by Handel’s composition, which was commissioned by the actual King George II in 1749 to mark the end of the War of the Austrian Succession.

In 1998, the event was expanded into a baroque period festival, which has run for one or two days each year since, finances allowing.

On Sunday, some 30 costumed Riverdale Players will roam the park’s Lilac Bowl meadow, bringing the 18th century back to life.

A new twist to this year’s afternoon events is the addition of various activities for children, including chess instruction, croquet and other games and a baroque coloring book.

Opening the evening entertainment, Theatre Ballet of Spokane will dance to the music of Antonio Vivaldi, choreographed by Sara Donally of Ballet Arts Academy.

That will be followed by a “green show” featuring a variety of entertainment – ending, as usual, with a fearless fire juggler.

In addition to the signature selection by Handel, the program for the closing Royal Fireworks Concert on Riverfront Park’s Floating Stage includes:

•Jean-Joseph Mouret’s Suite for Trumpets, Oboes and Tympani (the first movement is familiar as the theme from TV’s “Masterpiece Theatre”);

•a special fanfare to the upcoming Olympic Games;

•a performance of Elgar’s “Nimrod” honoring Virginia Jones, a longtime bassoonist with the Royal Band.

The 60-piece wind orchestra (no strings), made up of professional musicians from the Northwest and beyond, features the same instrumentation Handel originally used: oboes, bassoons, brass, percussion and a serpent.

As for the latter, that’s a coiled, bass wind instrument made of wood covered with leather. No need for an appearance by St. Patrick – which would be another festival altogether.