ECD celebrated the 25th anniversary and the brand’s momentous return to Las Vegas after a turbulent 2020 marred by an explosive and controversial postponement. We flew a custom show featuring three large drones with 600 drones above a crowd of 165.000 people to mark the weekend and ECD’s birthday bash. Thus, this EDC Las Vegas drone show was the perfect way to celebrate your birthday the 2021 way!

THE STORY BEHIND THE LIGHTS

3D figures were created based on stages from previous years that transformed into multiple polychromatic patterns. The drones changed from the iconic Electronic Daisy Carnaval owl to a silhouette of the unmistakable cathedral stag. Also, viewers saw the silhouettes of two people embracing each other under a glittering heart, among other configurations. In this way, we utilized our 11 minutes of flight time to the maximum. Giving attendees a complete historic overview of 25 years of EDC, from which 10 years in Vegas.&nbsp;

Multiple Polychromatic Patterns

The Las Vegas Motor Speedway, about 15 miles (or 21 kilometers) from the Las Vegas strip. Las Vegas, also known as the City of Lights… our massive EDC Las Vegas drone show certainly strengthened that claim!&nbsp;

STORY IN THE SKIES FROM…

DroneDJ's <a href="https://dronedj.com/2021/10/25/dance-music-vegas-drone-show/">article's header</a> might just be our favorite one yet, stating "Dance music fans can't stop gushing over this Las Vegas drone show." <a href="https://edm.com/gear-tech/watch-mesmerizing-edc-las-vegas-2021-drone-show">EDM</a> also did us the honor of giving attention to our show. They called our EDC Las Vegas drone show a "dazzling drone display'". Further in the article, they describe our drone performance as a "you had to be there moment". Thanks guys!&nbsp;&nbsp;

QUOTES ABOUT THE EDC LAS VEGAS DRONE SHOW

How do you celebrate your birthday the 2021 way? Yes, by flying 600 drones in front of a crowd of 165.000 people. That's exactly what we did for EDC in Las Vegas.

drone_stories_edc_las_vegas

EDC Las Vegas

Normally, it is impossible to fly above people because of safety reasons. However, for this special drone show, we found a way to enable this totally new experience. The cages were put in the middle of the fly-zone. With drones flying over the viewers, the way you see a show is totally different, because your perspective is new. You feel like you’re in the middle of the show. In fact, you are in the middle of the show. This meant attendees experienced and enjoyed the show in ways never done before.

The Story Behind the Lights

Cabo San Lucas in Mexico. With this new concept, people experienced a drone show from a new kind of perspective. From down below, you get pulled into the show. Definitely one for the books!

Story in the skies from…

The drone show was performed above a beautiful bay. Whilst the performance visualized a dance of drones, the water created a beautiful reflection of the drone lights. A totally new dimension to the show was thus created.&nbsp;

Water adding another dimension to this drone show

We love to challenge ourselves. That is why, for this special private event, we did something no one has done before. We used cages to fly over people...

Live Through This Cabo event

Live through this

To create this artwork, <a href="https://studiodrift.com/">Studio Drift</a> studied the natural flight behavior of starlings and translated it into specially developed software built into the drones. Franchise Freedom is a poetic illustration of how we, as humans, strive to live autonomously within societies defined by rules and conventions. Although the patterns seem random, and the impression of such a flock makes us think of freedom, the behavior of these birds is completely orchestrated and subject to many rules and survival instincts.

There is a particular kind of beauty in watching these sudden decisions by thousands of individuals and their reactions to each other. If each bird acted independently, complete chaos would ensue. Humans, like birds, find safety in a group. At the same time, they are forced to act according to many rules on which society operates. Those who prefer complete individual freedom to these rules are forced to operate outside of our culture. What is the perfect balance between the two? Is freedom an illusion? Each performance is site-specific and unique, and the drones will respond to their environment in an unpredictable, autonomous way. Their technology is based on ongoing university research into the behavior of swarms. The principles of self-organization have become increasingly relevant in our ever-changing world.

Is Freedom an Illusion?

various places such as Art Basel Miami, Al Ula, Saudi Arabia, Liberation Day in Rotterdam, NASA Kennedy Space Center, Burning Man, Amsterdam above the IJ and Unicef in Capri. The music for this installation was composed and played by pianist Joep Beving.

Franchise Freedom invites you to look at and learn from the patterns and survival mechanisms of nature. Life has been on earth for over 3 billion years and has its instruction manual on what works and what is appropriate here. Why don't we look at nature's patterns more often and find our solutions there?

Look and learn from Franchise Freedom

Franchise Freedom is a flying sculpture by Studio Drift and Drone Stories. This invigorating artwork is located at the intersection of technology, science and art. Hundreds of drones visualize an autonomously flying swarm of starlings, exposing the tension between individual freedom and safety in numbers. The ultimate goal being to provoke the mind and give the viewer food for thought.

Franchise Freedom Event

Franchise Freedom

The US government banned the official festival, but this did not stop people from coming to Black Rock City. Burning art installations were also banned. In order not to completely lose the ritual of the Burn, we brought light to the playa with our drones. This was a perfect opportunity to invent an eco-friendly new “drone man''.

We performed three different shows at the Playa: one on Friday morning, one on Friday night, and one on Saturday night. According to the audience, the pieces that flew were memorable. Not only aesthetically but emotionally. On Friday morning, a tribute was paid to George Mueller, founder of Robot Heart and friend to many in the Burns community. He passed away suddenly last year, so we decided to join the Robot Heart community in honoring him. Friday night, homage was paid to some of the works of art from the past. This was a special show because we flew above a baseball cage. That performance made us the first to fly above people, without endangering anyone. It changed the whole perspective of the show. Saturday was all about the most recognizable show of all. We started the performance with Franchise Freedom building up to the week's big moment. A huge man was revealed along with an excellent musical build-up made by Unders Music. This reveal shocked the playa. No one expected that a man could be flown 300 feet high. After the man was ‘burned’, the airfield was surrounded by people. Grateful and loving as you would expect from a Burning Man.

Two Days, Three Different shows

Black Rock City during Free Burn 2021. The Burning Man drone show is one of our never to forget Drone Stories moments!

For our Burning Man drone show, we sure had some challenges to overcome. First, getting everything there was a hustle because of the lag of resources. And what do you think about charging batteries at 40 degrees Celsius? Also, we didn't stick to 1 Burning Man drone show but flew 3 shows in 2 days. Making sure all safety measures were air-tight is pretty hard with 20.000 people being free to walk or bike everywhere. In the end, everything worked out though!&nbsp;

More about the Burning Man drone show

2021’s Free Burn was slightly different from previous years. Because of the pandemic, the official Burning Man festival and the burning of art installations were prohibited. We managed to keep the tradition alive and bring back our drone fleet to the playa since we first flew them there in 2018.

Burning Man 2021

Free Burn 2021

Based on different scenes of the movie, we created a show that was personal and recognisable for family and friends. The design we made was very organic but also geometric. A perfect balance between the shapes and movements, leading to a cohesive tribute to the movie. And a once-in-a-lifetime birthday party drone show!

Yes, we are the first to introduce drones to Montenegro and Montenegro to drones, seeing as this was the very first drone show to take place above the beautiful country. In order to make this happen, we worked together with the authorities from Montenegro. A first birthday party drone show, where hopefully many more will follow.

Montenegro, drones. Drones, Montenegro

at this birthday party in Portonovi Montenegro, there was the perfect spot to experience the show. Looking out over a beautiful lake with music that was synced to the show, surrounded by people literally and figuratively closest to the client.

What a way to celebrate your birthday. Extra special because the Drone Stories team can tailor the show to your wishes, ensuring a one-of-a-kind birthday party drone show. Naturally, this goes for every kind of drone shows created by Drone Stories though!

Birthday party drone show

This secret cliënt has a not-so-secret love for a certain movie. Thus, for his birthday, we created an entire, personalized show surrounding this movie. Can you recognize which movie we're talking about?

Happy birthday! Event

Happy birthday!

Because their travel memories are so special to the bridal couple, we challenged ourselves to create a show to top them. The combining of different show elements was our answer to this challenge. Using water projection during the show and fireworks at the end made the entire show stand out. The combination of these elements created new memories of precious, past moments. A brand-new story, serving as the first chapter of their new lives together.

this private event was watched by the bride and groom to be from their own, intimate space on a secret Greek beach, together with their friends and family.

We love to use the sky as our canvas to (re)tell stories. This wedding drone show is the perfect example of how you can create new memories through old ones. Showing how the couple, amongst others, visited beautiful mountains and flew in a hot air balloon, let them relive the moment. However, it ensured their travels memories now also take them back to one of their most special moments of all, their wedding!&nbsp;

A wedding drone show full of old and new memories

This wedding was a very special show. We combined various show elements with drones. In fact, this was the first time ever water projection was used in combination with drones. Because the bridal couple love to travel together, we created unique flashbacks in the skies surrounding their precious travel moments.

A wedding with old and new memories

Samsung showed the world that the tech industry is still booming and the company remains at the forefront of creating the latest innovations. Simultaneously, they promoted new technological advances through groundbreaking technological capabilities. In this case, with Drone Stories’ abilities to create art in the air that transformed before the eyes of the spectators.

250 drones flew high in the sky above this beautiful body of water, depicting shapes and movements for Samsung. They outlined some of their new technical features and movements of products. At the end of the Samsung drone show, a QR code was displayed for the audience to scan. When viewers scanned the code, they were directed to a page where they could learn more about Samsung’s latest foldable smartphones. Now that’s innovation for y’all!

Completed with a QR-code

Amsterdam above the IJ. The drone show is developed by Drone Stories in collaboration with Blauw Gras.

Fun fact: the Samsung drone show was part of an online promotion. Naturally, people could attend the show at the Amsterdam IJ. However, people could also tune in online. This resulted in the Samsung drone show being shared online by various media outlets and many individuals.&nbsp;

Hybrid Samsung drone show

Above Amsterdam’s largest river, the famous IJ, Drone Stories was given the honor of highlighting the launch of the new Samsung Galaxy Z Flip and Fold 4 5G with a stunning drone show brought to life by 250 drones. The foldability of the new phones and the innovative pens they work with were unique features they wanted to portray and share with the audience through the show.

Samsung’s Foldable Phone Launch

Disney+ wanted to promote National Streaming Day. For this purpose, we created an 8-minute choreographed Disney+ drone show, which was part of the accompanying film shoot.

240 drones flew above the Pier to create the outlines of the icons and characters of some of the most popular shows streamed on the Disney bundle (Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN). Illustrations created in the night sky included Grogu from The Mandalorian on Disney+, Captain America's shield from The Falcon and the Winter Soldier on Disney+, outfits from The Handmaid's Tale on Hulu, and an MLB bat and baseball for ESPN+.&nbsp;

Recognisable illustrations in the Sky

Above the Santa Monica Pier in Los Angeles. We developed this drone show in collaboration with Epidemic for Disney+.

Did you know National Streaming Day has been celebrated since 2014? It started off as a marketing stunt, however, since then streaming services have grown in double digits. The Disney+ drone show was part of a larger celebration. For example, a sneak peek at upcoming programs, announcements of new summer series and movies, and the hosting of classic movies and shows were also included.

Disney+ drone show for National Streaming Day

The Santa Monica Pier in Los Angeles was the setting for our choreographed light show in honor of National Streaming Day. The production was organized by the online streaming service Disney+.

National Streaming Day with Disney+

The Day Trip Festival LA drone show broadcasted the message “WE BACK BABY” to announce that Insomniac productions had returned and they would bring people together again. Abstract shapes flowed together that intertwined with the timing of the music’s evolution, and brought Day Trip’s logo to life in light. This was the first festival hosted by Insomniac since the COVID-19 Pandemic. We're sure back, baby!

For the audience, the Day Trip Festival LA drone show changed the way people interpreted the possibilities of drones. Exciting unique images and dimensional structures were created with the drones that delighted the eyes of the audience and left them in a state of awe.

Delighted the Audience

Los Angeles during the Day Trip 2021 festival, where tens of thousands of attendees cheered to the words of ‘We back baby’. An unforgettable moment!

Apart from telling the world that ‘we back, baby’, the 200 drones created recognisable outlines of an eye, a colorful peace sign, and wished people a happy 4th. What a way to celebrate the return of Insomniac's festivals!

Day Trip Festival LA drone show

At Day Trip LA 2021, we flew a drone show on July 4th to celebrate both the significance of Independence Day and the opportunity for people to come together and celebrate again.

Day Trip Festival LA

With Nederland geeft licht (the Netherlands lights up), we had the honor to work with BLØF, one of the most renowned bands of the Netherlands. Together, we created a show that was synced to the song Horizon by Bløf. The show was in perfect synergie with the song's lyrics, using the rhythm of the song to create a memorable, moving KWF drone show. The show represents the support for the people suffering from cancer, and is also meant to bring strength to everyone affected by this terrible disease.

The total show was broadcasted on national television, where KWF, BLØF and Drone Stories are proud to have made this tribute to the fight against cancer.

Well-known Dutch celebrities endorsing the KWF traveled through the Netherlands, collecting stories. In this way, ensuring they could shed light on everyone having to do with cancer. The KWF drone show was the perfect embodiment of the sharing of these stories. &nbsp;&nbsp;

KWF drone show as part of a larger message

Every year, KWF initiates a lantern walk. These lanterns are the symbol of supporting the ones that are affected by cancer. However, due to covid-19 it wasn’t possible to hold this lantern walk. To show support for KWF and all the people suffering from cancer, we did something special to ensure the lantern walk could still take place.

02 Live through this

The Story Behind the Lights

Story in the skies from…

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