Island chooses drones for its 4th of July show because of their safety and limited impact on the environment.
GALVESTON COUNTY, Texas – In Galveston, this year’s 4th of July celebration can be said to be reaching new heights.
“We really wanted to come up with something new and different to offer people coming to the island for the fourth,” said Michael Woody, Galveston Island’s Director of Tourism.
So, rather than a traditional fireworks display, Moody says, “We came up with the idea of a drone show.”
200 drones from Dallas-based Sky Elements Drones will take off near 37th St. and Seawall lighting up the Galveston coastline. The show will be visible within a three-mile radius and will climb as high as traditional fireworks.
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“It was a way, again, to still be able to have this amazing celebration, but to show people that we can do things differently and have fun doing it,” Woody said.
Besides being safe, the drones won’t leave debris in the water like fireworks or have loud “pops” and “bangs”. And visually, these drones can do just about anything.
“From an American flag to custom logos…we’ve even created QR codes that work in the sky. So you can do a lot of creative things that you just can’t get with fireworks,” says Preston Ward, Chief Pilot and General Counsel of Sky Elements Drones.
Ward has a decade of experience with pyrotechnics. He said his company has 1,500 custom drones in its fleet and drone shows could be the wave of the future for cities large and small.
“They want that extra impact and that extra safety that they can get with drones that they can’t get with fireworks,” says Ward.
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And for Galveston this July 4th, the sky is the limit.
“We like to do things differently here on the island,” says Woody.
Galveston expects 500,000 visitors over the July 4 weekend.
There will be two drone shows on Monday, lasting 12-13 minutes. One will be at 9 p.m. and the other at 10:30 p.m. People are recommended to arrive at 8am if they only want the drones. But visitors are recommended to get there at 5:00 p.m. if they want to fully experience the parade, which starts at 6:00 p.m.
More information can be found on the Galveston Tourism website.
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