As any high-profile holiday approaches, crowds of people from different parts of the world are waiting for a large-scale celebration of this event. One of its important elements is usually fireworks, which illuminate the sky with all the colors of the rainbow and support this action with a fairly loud sound. However, in recent years, event organizers are increasingly using an alternative – a show of drones, quadcopters or, if you like, drones. The opening ceremony of the Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, held in the summer of 2021, for example, was distinguished by the use of just such a show. It is important to understand that this example is by no means alone. Nevertheless, it is still too early to say that fireworks everywhere will be replaced by drones.
The case for drone shows over fireworks
The drone show attracts with its novelty
Luminous figures in the night sky are something new and really interesting. I dare to assume that the vast majority of readers of this material could not even hear about such a performance and hardly ever watched it live. However, soon everything can turn upside down. Ollie Howitt, creative coordinator at SkyMagic, used a fleet of 300 drones to create an aerial New Year’s Eve show in London ahead of 2021. She notes that the demand for such entertainment is systematically increasing, and it cannot be characterized by chance:
We really believe that shows like this will continue to grow dynamically – it’s not just a random fad that suddenly catches onlookers interested.
Organizing big drone shows just got easier
Ollie Howitt also notes that as technology advances, drone shows can be staged with more drones, which can gradually fly longer and more consistently. On the one hand, this allows you to increase the duration of the presentation. On the other hand, progress towards such gadgets improves the clarity of the picture that they can be used to build in the night sky. As practice shows, as technology develops, their cost also systematically decreases. This fact, among other things, should have a positive impact on the prevalence of drone shows both on a domestic scale and globally.
After the show of drones, there is no garbage associated with them
Of course, after any mass events, a lot of garbage remains on the streets, which is subsequently removed by public utilities for a long time. Fireworks are an additional pollutant and, among other things, have a negative impact on the environment. However, this opinion is partially refuted by the press secretary of the British Fireworks Association:
The environmental impact of fireworks has been shown to be negligible and extremely short-lived – recent studies show that a couple of cars driving to an event will potentially cause more environmental problems than fireworks at it.
It would be strange to think that a member of the fireworks association would express a different opinion. Moreover, it is worth recognizing that there is still less garbage from drones – at least scattered on the streets.
Drones can be used more than once
Ollie Howitt, mentioned above in the text, for obvious reasons, drowns precisely for the drone show. She believes that their use is more justified from an environmental point of view, including because they can be reused many times:
Drones are reusable and can be reused – there are no leftovers, debris, and the like.
If we consider this issue from the point of view of further distribution, then without confirmation from experts it is clear that the army of drones for the show is not a cheap pleasure for the organizers of the performance. However, such costs are fully recouped due to the possibility of reusable use of such devices.
Fireworks are very scary to pets
Mercia Marina CEO Robert Neff believes that drone shows are more justified, including in terms of attention to animals. Especially:
A lot of organizations oppose fireworks.
In the future, Robert plans to try to focus specifically on the drone show, so as not to harm both wild animals and their domestic counterparts.
There are plenty of reviews of how much stress fireworks cause to pets.
However, representatives of the British Society for the Protection of Animals (RSPCA) note that in attempts to protect animals from stress, drones are also not perfect.
Drones are not without problems, including impact on horses and livestock, potential bird strikes…
Arguments against replacing fireworks with drone shows
Fireworks are a well-established symbol of holidays all over the world.
Obviously, fireworks are waiting and loved by most. Many people have not even heard of the drone show, so the organizers of the holidays still have to do a lot of work to convince customers and viewers that this is really great. It is unlikely that this will happen in a year or two, despite all the advantages of such a visual presentation.
Drones can be dangerous due to batteries
Despite the fact that fireworks pollute the environment in a very obvious way, they use a lot of paper and cardboard in their construction, which are not so dangerous. Inside the drones, as in any electronics, on the contrary, there are a lot of components that are not the most environmentally friendly. A spokesman for the British Fireworks Association emphasizes:
There is speculation that drones have less of a negative impact on the environment, but we have serious concerns about the increase in demand for electricity and lithium batteries, which are not known to be too “green”.
With regard to lithium batteries, environmental issues arise both during their production and during disposal. The most frightening issue is the loss of drones in natural conditions – loss in the forests, falling into the water. In this case, the contents of the batteries will inevitably fall into the soil, which will definitely not affect it in a positive way.
The drone show has no sound, and that’s bad
Robert Neff emphasizes that the main issue with drone shows is the lack of sound. The audience constantly wants something more – brighter and louder. Drones will help with the first moment, but not with the second:
…more drones, more light, more performance. People always want more. And I think noise is an important part of it all.
Drones can complement fireworks, not replace them
After all, there is a certainty that the use of fireworks and drones are not mutually exclusive. Howitt agrees:
We find that fireworks work very well in tandem with drones. In fact, we do not believe that the former can replace the other at all. We think it’s just another tool to bring the sky to life…
Olli also noted that while fireworks provide a component of loudness and emotion, drones allow you to paint a story in the sky through a series of images.
Source: The Guardian.
Source: Trash Box
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