Images drawn in the sky by drones carrying colored lights
Drone art (also known as drone display or drone light show) is the use of multiple
unmanned aerial vehicles (drones), often
quadcopters, flying in a coordinated fashion with light fixtures attached. They are usually equipped with multiple
LEDs, and the display is held at night. The first drone display was presented in 2012 in Linz/Austria, where the Ars Electronica Futurelab introduced
SPAXELS (short for "space elements") for the first time. The displays may be for entertainment, where the drones may use
flocking or
swarming behaviour.[1] The drones may also be coordinated to produce images. Using this
emerging technology, displays have been employed for advertising purposes as well.
Drone light shows differ from fireworks displays in that drones are reusable, and do not produce air and
noise pollution.[3] However, drone displays cannot take place during rain or strong winds.[4] In the 2020s, some cities in the United States replaced
Independence Day fireworks displays with drone or laser light shows, to reduce fire risk, air pollution, and disturbance of dogs and people with
PTSD.[5] Concerns about safety have also emerged in response to malfunctioning of public drone light displays, such as when prior to a match in the
2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, 350 of the 500 performing drones plunged into water due to a glitch.[6]
List of drone displays
2012
September 2012 - 49 LED-equipped UAVs, called SPAXELS (short for "Space Elements") shown at world premiere by
Ars Electronica Futurelab[7]
2017 - At the Fortune Global Forum in China, 1,180 drones performed.
September 2017 - To mark the release of the home version of the Wonder Woman film, 300 drones displayed an enormous "W" in the night sky above Los Angeles.[10]
June 2018 - One hundred SKYMAGIC drones performed in
Newcastle, England, making shapes to music at the opening of the Great Exhibition of the North.[13]
July 2018 - Intel celebrates 50th anniversary with 2018 simultaneous drones over facility in Folsom, California, for Guinness world record.[14] Guinness credited Intel with flying 2066 simultaneous drones.[15]
2019
January 2019 - Two hundred SKYMAGIC drones deployed the World's first New Year's Countdown set to fireworks and music for the New Year Celebrations on Al Marjan Island.[16]
3 February 2019 - 150 enhanced Intel Shooting Star drones, choreographed to the music of Maroon 5 at the superbowl halftime show.
July 2019 - Two hundred and fifty drones performed at the opening show of the 24th World Scout Jamboree.[17]
August 2019 - Five hundred drones performed at the 80 years of VDNH celebration in Moscow[18]
October 2019 - Two hundred drones presented the new Peugeot 208 above Paris.[19]
December 10, 2019 - 150 Drones were used to show a spectacular dazzling display for the ending ceremony of South Asian Games 2020, Nepal held at the Dasharath stadium in Kathmandu, Nepal.
2020
June 2020 - A two hundred drone light show celebrated the 3rd edition of the San Giovanni Festival, breaking world record for simultaneous indoor drone flight.[20]
September 3, 2020 - Geoscan Group launched 2,198 drones at the 75th anniversary of the end of the World War II in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Record registered by the Record Book of Russia.[21][22][23][24][25][26][27]
September 20, 2020 - 3,051 drones create a spectacular light show in China and break
Guinness World Record. New record set by Shenzhen Damoda Intelligent Control Technology Co., Ltd (China) in Zhuhai, Guangdong.[28]
November 7, 2020 - President-elect
Joe Biden presidential victory speech featured a celebration drone light and firework show in Wilmington, Delaware.[29]
November 8, 2020 - 1,000 drones show at the «Wonder of Light» festival in Saint Petersburg (Russia) performed by Geoscan Group.[30]
December 31, 2020 - 300 drone show at the London's New Year's Eve fireworks and lighting display in London (UK) performed by SKYMAGIC.[31]
2021
March 17, 2021 - 500 Intel drones in a (pre-recorded) Orchestra of Light show to celebrate
St. Patrick's Day in
Dublin.[32]
April 12, 2021 – Geoscan Drone Show team launches 500 drones in Velikiy Novgorod (Russia) to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the 1st man's flight to space.[33][34][35]
May 2, 2021 – a performance of 500 quadcopters was shown at the Tourist Season Opening festival in
St. Petersburg (Russia).[36][37][38]
May 2021 – 580 quadcopters show presentation of the new
Hyundai Tucson in
Istanbul city. The show was performed by Geoscan Drone Show team.[42][43][44]
July 2021, Show using 5200 drones was completed in China [45]
July 23, 2021 - 1,824 drones are used during the
Tokyo2020 Summer Olympics opening ceremony. The drones start above the stadium in positions that depict the Tokyo 2020 games emblem which slowly changes into a rotating sphere with the countries of the world outlined.
August 21, 2021 – a drone show of 1200 quadcopter were launched in
Nizhniy Novgorod by Geoscan Drone Show to celebrate the city's 800th anniversary.[46][47]
August 25, 2021 – 1000 drones were put into the sky in
Ufa by Geoscan Drone Show to perform a display dedicated to the beginning of the
WorldSkills Russia contest.[48][49][50]
August 27, 2021 –
Samsung Electronics company presented its new smartphones in
Estonia with a drone show of 500 quadcopters launched by Geoscan Drone Show team[51][52][53]
February, 2022 - A drone light show team Verge Aero were a contestants, "golden buzzer" (staight to final award) and finalists in the TV show
America's Got Talent: Extreme[72]
March 6, 2022 - Disneyland Paris started a pre and post Illuminations drone show called D Lite and After Glow for their 30th birthday celebrations due to run nightly until 30 September 2022.[74]
March 2022 - The world's first feature-length art show containing drones,
SKY SONG at
Adelaide Fringe Festival, performed by Celestial. Involving the world's biggest holographic projector screens, show lighting and soundtrack. All of it showcasing First Nation art.[75]
June 25, 2022 - 500 drones flying over the Miloud Hadefi olympic stadium in Oran, throughout the opening ceremony of the Mediterranean Games 2022, Oran / Algeria.[76][77]
June 26, 2022 - 800 drones created formations over
El Hadj Hassan Gouled Aptidon Stadium to celebrate the 45th anniversary of Djibouti's Independence. Indian Startup
BotLab Dynamics designed and executed the show making it the first, and largest show to be Carried out in Africa.[78]
August 28, August 30 and September 1, 2022 - 400 drones by SKYMAGIC performed three shows over
Weston-super-Mare, UK, as part of the
See Monster art installation[79]
January 1, 2023 -
Celestial drones performed at the London New Year Eve's Celebration[81]
January 7, 2023 - at The Awakening, the opening ceremony of
Leeds 2023, held at Headingley Stadium, a giant head spoke to the people of the city.[82]
January 29, 2023 - BotLab Dynamics' fleet of 3500 Drones lit up the skies of New Delhi during the
Beating Retreat ceremony for the second year in a row, to perform the world's second largest drone light show till date[83][84][85]
April 16 and April 26, 2023 - 864 drones by
Studio Drift performed at
Coachella festival during both of
Björk's sets, based on "architectural and physics shapes—curves based on biology, like cells and microorganisms."[88]
Aug 27, 2023 -
DroneSwarm produce the UK's first ever drone light show proposal at Newby Hall in Yorkshire.[90]
October 2023 –
Newcastle United F.C.'s shirt sponsor,
Sela, created an animated drone display above the
St James' Park stadium in Newcastle Upon Tyne, England to celebrate the team's return to the
UEFA Champions' League after their last campaign 20 years earlier.[91]