A light show was thrown into chaos after nearly 90 drones suddenly fell from the sky at a popular tourist hotspot.
Footage showed the moment dozens of drones fell from the night sky at Sydney’s Darling Harbour as shocked bystanders looked on. Skymagic, a British company who oversaw the show, put the bizarre display down to a change in radio frequency for the glitch and said none of the drones ended up falling outside of the safety parameters.
Organisers behind the annual Vivid Sydney festival said the malfunction on Monday was due to “unforeseen technical difficulties.” They have since cancelled numerous upcoming shows that were due to go ahead during the three-week festival.
View 2 ImagesDozens of drones fell from the sky in Sydney
A Skymagic spokesperson later said: “During the performance on the evening of 25 May, Skymagic experienced a technical issue that resulted in 89 drones landing in the water around Cockle Bay.”
It is understood 83 drones fell into the harbour with six landing on the boardwalk. The chief executive of Destination New South Wales, Karen Jones apologised to people who had gathered to see the display.
“We apologise for the disappointment, and also for inconvenience caused to all attendees,” she said, reports The Guardian. “The next program to do the drone show is for Sunday night,” she said, “I can’t guarantee that that will go ahead. It does depend on the outcomes of this assessment.”
View 2 ImagesThe drones are understood to have fallen from the sky due to a technical issue
Darling Harbour employee, who only gave his name as Robert, told broadcaster ABC: “The sound of them crashing on the wharf was considerable even from probably 10 to 15 or 20 metres away; you could hear them physically crash and smash onto the cement marina.”
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Organisers behind the festival said Skymagic and government agencies would carry out a full assessment before approving any of the remaining shows. A Vivid Sydney spokesperson later apologised for the “disappointment and inconvenience caused to attendees,” reports the BBC.
The Star-Bound drone show involved 1,000 drones that were due to carry out a display lasting upward of 12 minutes. Vivid Sydney began hosting drone shows in 2024, which attracted large displays.
Last year, organisers decided against any drone shows amid concerns of overcrowding.