An estimated one million people witnessed a record-breaking, 3,300-strong drone show, including 1000 pyro drones, at Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Zayed Festival to celebrate New Year’s Eve. And this year’s staging proved to be the Festival’s most ambitious drone display yet. It was a multi-discipline and four-record breaking event taking in of our world-leading LED drones including pyro drones and super-high-output FALCON searchlights as well as the world’s strongest lasers to create ‘a record-breaking symphony of light and movement’. The light, drone & laser show was choreographed to an upbeat soundtrack. Moreover it was embedded within a lighting design by renowned lighting designer, Jerry P. Appelt, and a one-hour-long fireworks display.

A highlight of the celebrations saw the pyro drones igniting a falcon and, later, the new year ‘2024’ numbers high in the sky, following a countdown to midnight created by the drones. Dedicated software enabled the VJ to programme the LED drones through video animation, with the 400-metre-wide grid of drones serving as a huge pixel canvas in the night sky. A falcon bird with flamed wings, morphing shapes and festival slogans were formed, including the “UAE: Uniting Civilizations” theme.

For the first time in Abu Dhabi, we unleashed two of the brand-new 600W lasers – which are one of the world’s strongest laser engines – with scenic integration to add immense power to the display. The show set an Official Guinness World Record for the biggest aerial logo flown by multirotor/drones, and was created in collaboration with UAE-based partner AirGlow.