Planning a family show by budget
What ₹3,000, ₹6,000 and ₹12,000 buy for a house with children.
How to read a cracker box
Shots, duration, height and noise: what the numbers on the label mean before you buy.
Every box in our list carries the same four facts, and they matter more than the picture on the front. The first is the count: a box of 10 sparklers, a box of 5 flower pots, or the number of shots in an aerial cake. A 60-shot cake is sixty separate tubes on one fuse, not sixty minutes of show.
The second is duration. A big flower pot lasts around 25 seconds, a 120-shot cake about five minutes. If you are planning a family hour, add the durations up and you will see quickly whether you need more sparklers or one more cake.
The third is height. Ground items stay low; rockets rise around 30 m; most cakes rise 20–30 m. On a terrace or a narrow street, choose by height first and colour second.
The last is the batch detail printed on the box, which tells you who made it and when. If a box has no batch details at all, do not buy it from anyone, ourselves included.
