Drones, the new Fireworks?

I will initially say that this is my opinion and is not really backed by any real research, I am curious what people think.

January 26 is a national holiday known as Australia Day, this year we were fortunate for it to fall on a Friday, creating a long weekend. There is nothing more us Aussies love than a long weekend during summer, with amazing weather. Though, over the years, Australia Day has become a bit contentious due to the history of the day, marking the colonization of Australia by the British. This article is not about Australia Day, but about the way one of our cities decided to celebrate the event, is a different way.

As part of the local celebration, that would usually include fireworks, were replaced by a rather impressive drone show. Hundreds of drones took to the night sky, flying in formation to create pictures and words in the sky.

Photo: NSW State Flower the Waratah taken by me

Photo: Australian Coat of Arms taken by me

Now, I will admit, I am not the best photographer and the pictures above do not give the spectacle the justice of having hundreds of drones (I am not sure on the exact number, there was mention of about 600 drones used), combined into various shapes and words. Each session went for about 10 minutes before taking a break to come back the following hour to more, likely to enable recharge of the drones.

As I watched the display, it occurred to me that this kind of display has been becoming more common. As drone technology becomes more cost effective, and the ability to control a large number of drones into large displays, it provides something new for on-lookers, and in my opinion a more interesting display than just normal fireworks. The use of this technology enables more of a story to be told to onlookers and become more engaging.

One of the added benefits of this kind of display is that there is basically no real noise, sure the drones make a bit of noise (depending how far you are from the display), but no sudden loud bangs which can impact pets, wildlife and scare young children which I believe is a good positive. Also, there is something to be said about having a more customized display for your event, rather than just the normal fireworks display.

Anyway I am curious....

• Do you think that drone display will become the norm for major events?
• Have you seen an impressive drone display?

Leave a comment with what you think.