Drone Light Show Shines Over Mexican Hot Air Balloon Fest

UAV event specialist Verge Aero illuminated what the Philadelphia company is calling Mexico’s first-ever  drone light show.

Working with partner Sky Precision, Verge Aero launched an array of 150 drone-mounted lights, creating dancing, multi-color images in the sky during the Festival Internacional del Globo hot-air balloon festival to celebrate Día de Muertos

Founded in 2002, the FIG is based in the city of León. Seeking to provide a new approach to traditional fireworks displays, festival organizers hired Sky Precision and Verge Aero to choreograph a show. The presentation included performances by guitar maestros Rodrigo y Gabriella and Dutch DJ Martin Garrix.

“We are excited to have hosted the first drone show ever here in Mexico,” FIG CEO Escandra Salim Alle said. “The show content was amazing. The enormous crowd loved the drone show and our social media had a blast!”

A Verge Aero statement described the show:

“As with every public drone light show, safety was the primary concern for all involved. Emerging from their protected safe landing zone, the drones took to the air to create colorful, dynamic, pre-choreographed movements and shapes including guitars, balloons, flowers – and, of course, the iconic, grinning Día de Muertos skull – in the sky above the performance stage.”

The popularity of drone light shows has brightened over the past three years as venues seeks a safer, more exotic option for sporting events, concerts and corporate celebrations.

More than 1 billion people watched an indoor drone show created by Swiss-based Verity Studios during China Central Television’s Chinese New Year’s Gala broadcast last year. Billed as the “world’s most-watched TV program,” the broadcast featured 88 microdrones flying over Chinese music stars Sun Nan and Jason Zhang.

In 2018, Travis Air Force Base employed Intel’s Shooting Star drone light show to replace its iconic July 4th fireworks in recognition of the base’s 75th anniversary.

Grammy-nominated prog-rock band Muse launched drone shows during its 2015 concert tour in support of their aptly named album Drones. The spectacle premiered in Glendale, Ariz. as several drones orbited the crowd for the astronomically themed hit “Supermassive Black Hole.”