It’s the 4th of July, so let’s talk about drones vs. fireworks
Drone shows have become an essential tool for spectacle, but sometimes only "the boom" will do
This weekend, millions of Americans will celebrate Independence Day with barbecue, hot dog eating contests, fireworks, and increasingly, choreographed drone shows. For the past several years, communities across America have experimented with using drones as part of their 4th of July celebrations—sometimes in combination with the more traditional fireworks display, sometimes replacing it entirely.
Naturally, this has led to strong opinions on both sides of the debate—which is itself a very American tradition. Should drones replace fireworks as the de facto 4th of July spectacle? Or are drone shows a fad worth moving past, especially given fireworks have been inextricably linked to the holiday since the earliest years?
While the framing is understandable—the history of drone shows on the 4th is connected to finding firework alternatives—it is also very silly. Drone shows aren't at risk of replacing fireworks anymore than streaming music is going to replace vinyls (which, it's fun to note, has been growing for 17 years straight). We here at MBH4H adore drone shows but sometimes you need the literal explosive spectacle that only fireworks can provide. In terms of creating a shared spectacle, drones are a feature, not a full product. Sometimes you just need "the boom."
But first, a brief history lesson. Choreographed drone performances began in the early 2010s. One of the earliest credited “drone art” shows features 49 quadcopters doing an abstract light show in Linz, Austria from Ars Electronica Futurelab. All the fundamental elements of today’s synchronized drone dances can be found here, albeit much smaller in scope and scale. Watching the YouTube recording even today, I remain impressed by the restraint and elegance in the performance. Whereas many of the most popular drone shows today attempt to paint pixelesque portraits or cartoon caricatures, here I can imagine drones blending into a starry sky and “tricking” its users into a false sense of normalcy before animating space itself—a trick many future performances would use to great effect, including Lady Gaga’s Super Bowl LI halftime show.
Very quickly, the complexity of performances grew, as did the number of drones in use simultaneously. For the 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, over 1,200 drones were used to paint a large snowboarder in the sky before morphing into the event’s iconic interlocking rings. Notably, 2018 is also when drones became a much bigger topic of discussion as an alternative to 4th of July fireworks, particularly as wildfires raged across large parts of the US. A need to think beyond combustible explosives created the demand for something new, and drone choreography was at the right level to provide it—though, as USA Today astutely asked at the time, “Where's the 4th without the boom?”
It’s here that the question of drones vs. fireworks becomes intertwined. For the past several years, the trend has been largely to embrace a fascinating new technology. This year, however, we’ve seen more of a divided interest, with National Geographic exploring the health and environmental concerns of fireworks while NBC News covered several communities that had switched back to fireworks after trying drones in years past.
We’re not here to argue that either side is more right than the other. In fact, we tend to think they’re both right. Fireworks are increasingly risky in an ever-warming world where extreme drought can easily lead to a more flammable environment. At the same time, a synchronized display of dancing lights does not engender the same primal, multisensory reaction of explosions in the sky. “The boom,” it turns out, cannot be recreated by a swarm of quadcopters no matter the size.
There’s something very powerful about a shared moment of spectacle. As impressive as many VR experiences can be, for example, they’re also very isolating. Something we’re excited to explore more at MBH4H is how emergent technology can be used to create shared moments of awe—the kind of experiences that have long made us unapologetic Disney Imagineer stans. Sometimes that involves a ballet of quadcopters animating large dragons. Sometimes it’s a giant sphere of trippy lights and sound. Often, it’s the combination of everything that elevates a moment—including, yes, things that go “boom.”
But for now, we’re off to celebrate the holiday. We’ll be back next week. In the interim, enjoy this video:
Bonus: Drones vs. Fireworks, 2014-Present
While working on this blog post I went down a rabbit hole looking at the history of drones coverage on or around the 4th of July. Here are a few of our favorite headlines from over the years:
2014
Somebody Flew a Drone Into a Fireworks Display and This Is What Happened (Time)
Fly Directly Into a Fireworks Display With This Drone Footage (The Next Web)
Flying A Drone Through Fireworks May Land You In Prison (Forbes)
2015
So, You're Thinking About Flying Your Drone Through Fireworks (WIRED)
What Happens When a Firework Hits a Drone? (Chicago Magazine)
2018
Drones replace July 4th fireworks in western towns worried about wildfires. But where's the 'boom'? (USA Today)
A July 4 Without Fireworks? Wildfire-Plagued Cities Turn to Drones (The New York Times)
Cities Swap Fireworks for Drones This July 4th (Bloomberg)
Fourth of July: drones to replace firework displays due to wildfire risk (The Guardian)
Drones to replace fireworks in dry states to prevent fires (NY Post)
2020
2021
The hidden toll of July Fourth fireworks (National Geographic)
2022
Fireworks are out, drone shows are in this Fourth of July (Axios)
Demand for drone shows sky high as 4th of July approaches (NBC News)
2023
Fireworks Have a New Competitor: Drones (The New York Times)
Drone displays replacing fireworks show across U.S (NBC News)
These cities are having drone shows instead of fireworks displays for Fourth of July celebrations (CBS News)
2024