It was a year ago, but no one has forgotten. In the Gironde, residents remain traumatized by the fires that ravaged the region last summer. Unexpected impact of these episodes: the city of La Teste-de-Buch has decided not to set off fireworks for the national holiday. On the night of July 13, the Testers will enjoy a drone show.
In recent years, companies have emerged to offer this new type of entertainment. Drone de Ciel is one of the latest additions to this booming ecosystem. Launched in November 2022, the company has already received more than 230 applications in just eight months. The initial idea of directors Florian Sirjean and Vivien Honoré was to combine technology and creativity.
With its fleet of one hundred drones, the company is capable of performing a multitude of tricks in the sky. In addition, the different paintings made during an exhibition are totally personalized. “It takes about fifty hours between the creation of the music and the choreography of the drones,” explains Florian Sirjean, who does not offer catalog shows.
An alternative solution to droughts
The aim of the council was to ensure that it could “light up the sky” to offer its inhabitants “a festive moment”.
However, the show will still include fireworks. Mixing drones and color explosions is a trend that Bruno Marlois, the manager of Magic Drone, strongly believes in. Associated with pyrotechnics, the company proposes to start with fireworks and conclude with the traditional final bouquet: “Between the two, it is the drones that take over,” Bruno Marlois tells Tech&Co.
To dazzle with hybrid shows or just with the presence of drones, Magic Drone has an impressive fleet. Recently, the company was able to set up an exhibition with 800 machines. But Bruno Marlois is already preparing to fly 1,000 drones in a coordinated manner in the sky within a few weeks. This multiplies the creative possibilities.
Especially since the company, created in the middle of a pandemic two and a half years ago, has an asset. “We were the first to obtain authorization to place small pyrotechnic elements on drones,” says Bruno Marlois.
A cost two or three times more expensive
Thus, he was able to reproduce an osprey during a show. Once the drones were attracted to the light, the raptor of light saw how some sixty machines activated his devices to simulate the burning of the bird’s wings. This figure demonstrates the almost endless possibilities offered by drones.
However, originality has a price. You have to count two to three times as expensive to pay for a drone show compared to a fireworks display. This is mainly due to the cost of the devices, not only to buy them, but also to maintain them.
So you have to count on maintenance. “We repair them a lot,” says the leader. After a show, about ten propellers need to be changed.
However, the transition from fireworks to drone show is still possible. Arc-lès-Gray is a good example of this. The municipality has not spent a single euro more than last year.
A still difficult legislative framework
Every year, the city offers a concert, a sound and light show and a dance to its citizens. This year, the artists will be less well known than in the past, but local. This made it possible for it to remain in the same endowment destined for the national holiday festivities. As a prize, a personalized show that promises to register, this Thursday in the sky, the logo or the name of the city of Arc-lès-Gray.
Only the development, the place of the show. It was necessary to modify the local habits a bit to guarantee the security perimeter necessary for the drones to fly. “For now, a radius of 130 meters is needed around the show, about twice the width of a football field,” says Bruno Marlois, manager of Magic Drone.
According to him, the legislation would be the first cause of rejection of the files with these clients. Because to organize a show many authorizations are needed. “Like all new things, rules take time to loosen up,” he said.
Given these limitations, a ray of hope arose this year with a new client, which reflects the democratization of these new services. Allier’s department has commissioned a drone show that Magic Drone will present eleven times over the summer. From June 24 and every Saturday, residents enjoy a show of 500 devices.
However, this does not mean the announced death of fireworks, far from it. Because the main obstacle that drones encounter is above all a question of capacity. Today, France has less than a dozen companies specializing in the field, which limits the number of possible services.
A figure well below the thousands of rallies scheduled for Thursday the 13th and Friday the 14th of July. But waiting to be able to satisfy more people, orders are already arriving for next year. Drone de Ciel already has 20 to 25 projects. Which allows its managing director, Florian Sirjean, to let himself go with serenity: “the future is bright for us”.
Source: BFM TV
