Drone show vs fireworks: cost and choice

What is the difference between a drone show and fireworks?

Fireworks are bursts: colour, light and a bang, gone in seconds. A drone show is a picture that moves. Every drone is a flying pixel, and together they draw shapes, logos, text and characters that change from one scene into the next. That is why a drone show can tell a story with a beginning, a turn and an ending, and why a brand can put its product, its name or even a QR code in the sky, as we did for Samsung's foldable phone launch.

Our drones are low-noise once they reach their height, cause no known air pollution, and we use renewable energy to run the system. The music is usually the loudest thing at a drone show.

Which costs more: a drone show or fireworks?

We price drone shows, not fireworks, so we will not guess at a fireworks quote. What we can tell you: our shows start at $50,000; most land between $100,000 and $200,000. Four things set the number: the number of drones, the show length, the location with its permits, and the animation. The full breakdown, and a planner to size your show, are on our drone show cost page.

The better question is what you need the sky to do. If it should say something, show a logo or tell a story, only drones can do that. If it should simply explode with colour, fireworks do that well.

When is a drone show the better choice?

• You have a message. A logo, a product, a name, a countdown, a story.
• Noise matters. Near homes, animals, a hotel or a wedding, where a bang is not welcome.
• Fireworks are not allowed. On New Year's Eve 2020 fireworks were banned in the Netherlands, so Rotterdam rang in the new year with drones: a rising sun behind the Erasmus Bridge that became the countdown, shown on TV.
• You want it to last. A drone show runs from about three minutes up to twelve, with one picture flowing into the next.

Drones have limits too. They fly in wind up to 25 mph (40 km/h) and cope with a few drops of rain, but not with a storm; the pilot decides on the night. They look best after sunset, and we fly a minimum of 100 drones, because below that shapes stop reading from a distance.

Drones and fireworks together

You do not have to choose. Drones can be combined with fireworks, water screens, live music or sound design, and some of our favourite shows did exactly that:

• Amsterdam's New Year's Eve: 600 drones over the IJ, the first time the Netherlands saw a drone show combined with fireworks.
• EDC Las Vegas: 600 drones with music and fireworks in front of 150,000+ festival-goers.
• A wedding in Greece: the couple's memories in the sky, with fireworks closing the show.

Get a proposal

Tell us the event, the place and the month. Within a business day you hear from us whether drones, fireworks or both will make the impact you are after, and what it takes. Get a proposal.