Images drawn in the sky by drones carrying colored lights
A drone launch in Russia to celebrate the 60th anniversary of
Yuri Gagarin's flight to space in 1961
Drone art (also known as drone display or drone light show) is the use of multiple
unmanned aerial vehicles (drones), often
quadcopters which fly 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; the Ars Electronica Futurelab introduced
SPAXELS (short for "space elements") for the first time. The displays are often for entertainment and the drones may use
flocking or
swarming behaviour.[1] The drones have the capability to produce images. Using the
emerging technology, displays have been employed for advertising purposes.
Drone light shows differ from fireworks displays in that drones are reusable; they do not produce air and
noise pollution.[3] However, drone displays cannot happen 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 the 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 prior to a match in the
2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, 350 of the 500 performing drones plunged into the water due to a glitch.[6]
List of drone displays
"Drone100" performed by Ars Electronica Futurelab, for Intel, in 20152100 drones portrait of
Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud performed by Geoscan Group at the Saud Riyadh Seasons 2021 opening ceremony1000 drones launch to pay respect to the soldiers fallen in the
Battles of Rzhev
2012
September 2012 - 49 LED-equipped UAVs, called SPAXELS (short for "Space Elements") performed at a world premiere by
Ars Electronica Futurelab.[7]
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 creating shapes synchronized to music at the opening of the Great Exhibition of the North.[13]
July 2018 - Intel celebrated its 50th anniversary with 2018 simultaneous drones over their facility in
Folsom, California setting a Guinness world record.[14] Intel flew 2066 drones.[15]
2019
January 2019 - Two hundred SKYMAGIC drones were deployed for the world's first New Year's Countdown set to fireworks and music for New Year's celebrations on
Al Marjan Island.[16]
3 February 2019 - 150 enhanced Intel Shooting Star drones, choreographed to the music of
Maroon 5 at the
Super Bowl 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 show 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 200 drones light show celebrating the 3rd San Giovanni Festival, breaking the 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. The record was registered by the Record Book of Russia.[21][22][23][24][25][26][27]
September 20, 2020 - 3,051 drones created a spectacular light show in
China setting a Guinness world record. The record was set by Shenzhen Damoda Intelligent Control Technology Co., Ltd in
Zhuhai, Guandong.[28]
November 7, 2020 - President-elect
Joe Biden's 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 performed by Geoscan Group[30]
December 31, 2020 - 300 drones show at the
New Year's Eve fireworks and lighting display in London 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 6, 2021 – Drone Show Europe by Spectrum production team launched first drone show in central europe.The show was performed near Prague Castle (the largest castle complex in the world)
Drone Show Prague[33]
April 12, 2021 – Geoscan Drone Show team launched 500 drones in
Velikiy, Novgorod, Russia to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the 1st man's flight in space.[34][35][36]
May 2, 2021 – a performance of 500 quadcopters was shown at the Tourist Season Opening festival in St. Petersburg.[37][38][39]
July 23, 2021 - 1,824 drones are used during the
Tokyo2020 Summer Olympics opening ceremony. The drones began above the stadium in positions which depicted the Tokyo 2020 games emblem slowly changing into a rotating sphere with the countries of the world outlined.
August 21, 2021 – a drone show of 1200 quadcopters were launched in
Nizhniy Novgorod, Russia by Geoscan Drone Show celebrating the city's 800th anniversary.[47][48]
August 25, 2021 – 1000 drones were put into the sky in
Ufa, Russia by Geoscan Drone Show in a display dedicated to the beginning of the
WorldSkills Russia contest.[49][50][51]
August 27, 2021 –
Samsung Electronics company presented its new smartphones in
Estonia with a drone show of 500 quadcopters launched by the Geoscan Drone Show team.[52][53][54]
September 4, 2021 - a 100-drone show by Cyberdrone to celebrate the 875th anniversary of
Yelets, Russia[57][58][59]
September 18, 2021 - Cyberdrone's light show with 100 drones celebrating the
Balashikha City Day [60][61]
September 21, 2021 – 1000 drones were used in a drone display performed by Geoscan Drone Show during the
Armenia Independence Day celebrations.[62][63]
October 20, 2021 – 2100 drones were used in a display performed by Geoscan Drone Show during the opening ceremony of
Riyadh Seasons 2021.[64][65][66]
December 4, 2021 - 300 drones illuminated the sky of
Mumbai in a
Cyberdrone show.[67]
December 11, 2021 - 500 Cyberdrone drones turned the 75 years of
Grasim Industries celebration into a spectacle.[68]
2022
January 1, 2022 - Cyberdrone
Johnnie Walker light show with 500 drones dancing in the sky[69]
January 1, 2022 - a SKYMAGIC show (from SkyMagic[70]) in London as part of the New Year's Day celebration
February, 2022 - a drone light show team Verge Aero were contestants and given a "golden buzzer" (sending them to the finals in the TV show
America's Got Talent: Extreme[73]
March 6, 2022 -
Disneyland Paris premiered a pre and post Illuminations drone show called D Lite and After Glow for their 30th birthday celebrations which ran nightly until 30 September 2022.[75]
March 2022 - The world's first feature-length art show containing drones,
SKY SONG at
Adelaide Fringe Festival, performed by Celestial. It had the world's biggest holographic projector screens and showcased
First Nation art[76]
June 26, 2022 - 800 drones created formations over
El Hadj Hassan Gouled Aptidon Stadium to celebrate the 45th anniversary of
Djibouti's Independence. BotLab Dynamics designed and executed the show which was the first and largest show in Africa.[79]
August 28, August 30 and September 1, 2022 - 400 drones by SKYMAGIC performed three shows in
Weston-super-Mare, England as part of the
See Monster art installation.[80]
January 1, 2023 -
Celestial drones performed at the London New Year's Eve Celebration[82]
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.[83]
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[84][85][86]
March 14, 2023 - Drone show Europe by Spectrum production team flew 500 drones in Albania. This was the first show in Albania and one of the biggest shows in the whole of Europe. The drone show also won international awards.
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."[90]
Images drawn in the sky by drones carrying colored lights
A drone launch in Russia to celebrate the 60th anniversary of
Yuri Gagarin's flight to space in 1961
Drone art (also known as drone display or drone light show) is the use of multiple
unmanned aerial vehicles (drones), often
quadcopters which fly 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; the Ars Electronica Futurelab introduced
SPAXELS (short for "space elements") for the first time. The displays are often for entertainment and the drones may use
flocking or
swarming behaviour.[1] The drones have the capability to produce images. Using the
emerging technology, displays have been employed for advertising purposes.
Drone light shows differ from fireworks displays in that drones are reusable; they do not produce air and
noise pollution.[3] However, drone displays cannot happen 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 the 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 prior to a match in the
2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, 350 of the 500 performing drones plunged into the water due to a glitch.[6]
List of drone displays
"Drone100" performed by Ars Electronica Futurelab, for Intel, in 20152100 drones portrait of
Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud performed by Geoscan Group at the Saud Riyadh Seasons 2021 opening ceremony1000 drones launch to pay respect to the soldiers fallen in the
Battles of Rzhev
2012
September 2012 - 49 LED-equipped UAVs, called SPAXELS (short for "Space Elements") performed at a world premiere by
Ars Electronica Futurelab.[7]
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 creating shapes synchronized to music at the opening of the Great Exhibition of the North.[13]
July 2018 - Intel celebrated its 50th anniversary with 2018 simultaneous drones over their facility in
Folsom, California setting a Guinness world record.[14] Intel flew 2066 drones.[15]
2019
January 2019 - Two hundred SKYMAGIC drones were deployed for the world's first New Year's Countdown set to fireworks and music for New Year's celebrations on
Al Marjan Island.[16]
3 February 2019 - 150 enhanced Intel Shooting Star drones, choreographed to the music of
Maroon 5 at the
Super Bowl 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 show 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 200 drones light show celebrating the 3rd San Giovanni Festival, breaking the 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. The record was registered by the Record Book of Russia.[21][22][23][24][25][26][27]
September 20, 2020 - 3,051 drones created a spectacular light show in
China setting a Guinness world record. The record was set by Shenzhen Damoda Intelligent Control Technology Co., Ltd in
Zhuhai, Guandong.[28]
November 7, 2020 - President-elect
Joe Biden's 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 performed by Geoscan Group[30]
December 31, 2020 - 300 drones show at the
New Year's Eve fireworks and lighting display in London 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 6, 2021 – Drone Show Europe by Spectrum production team launched first drone show in central europe.The show was performed near Prague Castle (the largest castle complex in the world)
Drone Show Prague[33]
April 12, 2021 – Geoscan Drone Show team launched 500 drones in
Velikiy, Novgorod, Russia to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the 1st man's flight in space.[34][35][36]
May 2, 2021 – a performance of 500 quadcopters was shown at the Tourist Season Opening festival in St. Petersburg.[37][38][39]
July 23, 2021 - 1,824 drones are used during the
Tokyo2020 Summer Olympics opening ceremony. The drones began above the stadium in positions which depicted the Tokyo 2020 games emblem slowly changing into a rotating sphere with the countries of the world outlined.
August 21, 2021 – a drone show of 1200 quadcopters were launched in
Nizhniy Novgorod, Russia by Geoscan Drone Show celebrating the city's 800th anniversary.[47][48]
August 25, 2021 – 1000 drones were put into the sky in
Ufa, Russia by Geoscan Drone Show in a display dedicated to the beginning of the
WorldSkills Russia contest.[49][50][51]
August 27, 2021 –
Samsung Electronics company presented its new smartphones in
Estonia with a drone show of 500 quadcopters launched by the Geoscan Drone Show team.[52][53][54]
September 4, 2021 - a 100-drone show by Cyberdrone to celebrate the 875th anniversary of
Yelets, Russia[57][58][59]
September 18, 2021 - Cyberdrone's light show with 100 drones celebrating the
Balashikha City Day [60][61]
September 21, 2021 – 1000 drones were used in a drone display performed by Geoscan Drone Show during the
Armenia Independence Day celebrations.[62][63]
October 20, 2021 – 2100 drones were used in a display performed by Geoscan Drone Show during the opening ceremony of
Riyadh Seasons 2021.[64][65][66]
December 4, 2021 - 300 drones illuminated the sky of
Mumbai in a
Cyberdrone show.[67]
December 11, 2021 - 500 Cyberdrone drones turned the 75 years of
Grasim Industries celebration into a spectacle.[68]
2022
January 1, 2022 - Cyberdrone
Johnnie Walker light show with 500 drones dancing in the sky[69]
January 1, 2022 - a SKYMAGIC show (from SkyMagic[70]) in London as part of the New Year's Day celebration
February, 2022 - a drone light show team Verge Aero were contestants and given a "golden buzzer" (sending them to the finals in the TV show
America's Got Talent: Extreme[73]
March 6, 2022 -
Disneyland Paris premiered a pre and post Illuminations drone show called D Lite and After Glow for their 30th birthday celebrations which ran nightly until 30 September 2022.[75]
March 2022 - The world's first feature-length art show containing drones,
SKY SONG at
Adelaide Fringe Festival, performed by Celestial. It had the world's biggest holographic projector screens and showcased
First Nation art[76]
June 26, 2022 - 800 drones created formations over
El Hadj Hassan Gouled Aptidon Stadium to celebrate the 45th anniversary of
Djibouti's Independence. BotLab Dynamics designed and executed the show which was the first and largest show in Africa.[79]
August 28, August 30 and September 1, 2022 - 400 drones by SKYMAGIC performed three shows in
Weston-super-Mare, England as part of the
See Monster art installation.[80]
January 1, 2023 -
Celestial drones performed at the London New Year's Eve Celebration[82]
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.[83]
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[84][85][86]
March 14, 2023 - Drone show Europe by Spectrum production team flew 500 drones in Albania. This was the first show in Albania and one of the biggest shows in the whole of Europe. The drone show also won international awards.
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."[90]