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Largest UK drone show features mute symbol

AV Award-winning Skymagic co-ordinated 300 drones for a live New Year’s Eve show featuring themes which represented the experience of 2020.

Largest UK drone show features mute symbol

AV Award-winning drone swarm specialist Skymagic has put on a 300-drone New Year’s Eve show featuring an image of a “You’re on mute” symbol from a videoconferencing call and a Black Lives Matter fist salute.

The live show, which was filmed in London and broadcast on the BBC1 TV channel, was among the most eye-catching of a number of drone shows around the world, with other notable events taking place in Seoul in South Korea and Edinburgh in Scotland.

Other topical themes in the London New Year’s eve show included the work of Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) during the pandemic, the charity fundraising activity of 100-year-old Captain Sir Tom Moore, and a message from TV presenter Sir David Attenborough about the importance of our planet and the opportunity for change in 2021.

The ten-minute Skymagic drone show was the largest ever carried out in the UK and the first-ever large-scale drone lighting performance in London. Skymagic, which picked up the Visual Technology of the Year award in the AV Awards 2020, worked with brand experience agency Jack Morton on the fireworks, lighting and drone show for the Greater London Authority.

In Seoul, South Korea, more than 1,000 drones flew over the city to create shapes including the Hyundai Motor company logo and cars, plus an image of an ox to celebrate the New Year. The car company has been holding countdown ceremonies every year since 2011, with live performances and fireworks, but they were replaced this year by the pre-recorded video of a drone light show.

In Scotland, the country’s Hogmanay New Year’s Eve celebration was the occasion for the country’s first-ever large-scale drone displays, with 150 drones provided by drone company Celestial for event company Underbelly. Three shows were filmed in the Scottish highlands and in the capital, Edinburgh, inspired by the verse of Scottish Poet Laureate Jackie Kay, with actor David Tennant leading the narration.


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Posted: 13th January 2021


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