A special effects technician who went from rigging lighting at school plays to building his own production company has recently returned from landing his dream job at Glastonbury.

Liam Mace, from Stretton, managed to take his production company to the world-famous festival after he was approached by organisers to produce fireworks, flames and other special effects at the popular Block9 stage.

The 21-year-old and his team carried out incredible special effects over the Saturday and Sunday, including 6ft supersize balloons which were thrown out into the crowd and burst to create stunning confetti rain.

The Block9 stage at Glastonbury
The Block9 stage at Glastonbury

The 21-year-old labelled the job one of his biggest achievements to date, and has hopes that the opportunity will help progress his company even further.

He said: “For me, it’s seeing the company move forward and take another step, and hopefully the company is going to develop and progress,”

As a teenager at the de Ferrers Academy, Burton, Liam gained an interest in the lighting and production side of theatre during school plays.

After a teacher allowed him to work backstage during productions, he learnt the foundations of everything he needed to know.

Liam’s passion for special affects spiralled after that, which ultimately led to him kick-starting his very own company.

Some of the amazing special effects Ghost FX produced at Glastonbury
Some of the amazing special effects Ghost FX produced at Glastonbury

But it wasn’t all plain sailing. A young, enthusiastic Liam sold almost all of his belongings to save up for lighting and other pyrotechnic equipment – including items such as his clothes, speakers and his beloved PlayStation.

“We were only a little company at first,” Liam recalls. “We only did discos and lighting for small local shows to make a bit of money.

“There came a point when I thought, ‘I can’t be doing discos anymore,’ and stopped.

“When I left school I worked for loads of production companies and it just went from there.”

Liam is now the technical manager of his own production house Ghost FX, and has worked at huge gigs up and down the country, including ones at London’s O2 arena.

Duke Dumont and Scouting for Girls are just two of the big names he and his team have produced pyrotechnics for, and Liam hopes producing at Glastonbury will open up more doors for the company.

One of Liam’s most sentimental accomplishments includes providing free pyrotechnics for Teddy Rocks Festival, an event dedicated to “beating cancer with rock”.

Impressive pyrotechnics at Teddy Rocks
Impressive pyrotechnics at Teddy Rocks

The charity was founded by Liam’s friend Tom Newton, after he lost his 10-year-old brother to a rare type of bone cancer. Liam donated around £1,000 worth of special effects completely free to the cause, which has since raised £76,659 to help the families of those affected by cancer.

“Two years on, we’ve done special effects for some of the biggest names in dance music and worked at some of the biggest venues in the country.

“It’s so cool to see the company moving forward.

“We’re not just a local little production company anymore, we’re stepping up and moving to a higher level.”