This post dates back to November 2021, and captures an important moment in the early history of FlightShows.
Mercia Marina took the bold decision to replace its traditional Bonfire Night fireworks with a drone light show. At the time, drone shows were still an extraordinary new sight in the UK, and this became the first drone light show in South Derbyshire, and one of the first in the the United Kingdom.
The show used just 30 drones. That might sound wonderfully small compared with what we can create today, but in 2021 this was genuinely pioneering stuff. We were taking a new technology out of the test field and putting it in front of real audiences, telling stories in the sky and helping demonstrate that drone shows could become a genuine alternative to traditional displays.
We were incredibly proud of what we achieved then, and we still are.
Since those early shows, the technology, the scale and the creative possibilities have moved on enormously. FlightShows has grown with them, and what we can put into the sky today is on another level.
But this is where some of that journey happened.
We’re still here, still pushing drone shows forward, and still rather fond of the little 30-drone swarm that helped show what was possible.
Derbyshire’s destination marina is giving the green (and many coloured), light to a new event. When many events for Guy Fawkes will be banging on about fireworks, Mercia has decided to take a different approach and have gone with the family and pet-friendly approach by having a drone light display set to music provided by FlightShows.
The swarm show at Mercia Marina will be the first drone light show in South Derbyshire as bosses have decided to take a different approach to bonfire night and have opted for a family and pet-friendly option by having a drone light display set to music instead of loud bangs from fireworks that could upset pets, wildlife and the residents of the marina.
The drones are sent a predetermined path that is designed in animation software in advance of the performance. Any shape can be created, be it a fun Halloween ghost or a business logo. For this production, FlightShows have partnered with Fresh FX who have delivered the most beautiful story in the stars on a very tight deadline. Jonathan Ruffle, the lead animator on the Derby drone show was “delighted to be a part of a project that could entertain audiences on bonfire night without the negative environmental impact of fireworks”. The show uses the latest drone technology to create images in the sky that tell a story that fireworks can not.
Entertainment will be provided on Saturday, November 6 from 4.30 pm to 7.30 pm with the drones planned to be out from 7 pm to 7.30 pm, weather dependent. The event was hosted by Mercia Marina.
FlightShows are one of the very few companies with authorisation to conduct these drone light shows in the UK and cannot wait to wow the public at Mercia Marina.
The media has reported on this story and the comments have been so positive! FlightShows believe that drone light shows will be the future of entertainment at bonfire nights all around the UK!
Media Mentions
https://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/bonfire-night-fireworks-display-replaced
