Vivid Sydney has cancelled all remaining drone shows after 83 drones fell into Darling Harbour during a performance on Monday night. The incident occurred when a technical issue caused dozens of drones to plunge into Cockle Bay, with six landing on a boardwalk. No injuries were reported.
The festival initially cancelled four performances on Tuesday and Wednesday as a precaution while operators conducted a full technical and safety review. On Saturday, Vivid confirmed that all scheduled drone shows for the remaining two weeks were also cancelled, citing the review's findings and the need to provide certainty for visitors.
In a statement, Vivid said: 'Public safety remains the absolute priority and all decisions have been guided by expert technical and regulatory advice.' Fireworks displays will replace the drone shows, complementing the Laser Lightfall experience in Darling Harbour at the previously scheduled times.
Skymagic, the UK-based operator, attributed the failure to 'an unforeseen change in the radio frequency environment occurring after take-off,' which compromised the drones' positional accuracy. Head of operations Dyfan Rhys stated that early indications show no foul play, but investigations continue. He emphasised that the public was not at risk, as the pilot team locked the main fleet stationary while affected drones encountered a geofence boundary and shut down to preserve safety.
The drone show, featuring 1,000 purpose-built drones, had been scrapped last year due to crowd control concerns but returned this year as Australia's 'most extensive' event of its kind.
