Drones Light Up Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta for a Third Year
Discover how Verge Aero’s drone shows became a highlight of the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, delivering breathtaking performances for the third consecutive year.
Drone light shows have become a staple at the world’s largest hot air balloon festival.
The Verge Aero Network proudly returned to the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta a third year in a row!
With new and compelling sequences for the Fiesta’s 52nd event inspired by the art of ballooning, New Mexico, and the pilots’ home countries, Verge’s drone shows delighted hundreds of thousands of spectators and became a prominent feature once again of the world’s premier ballooning festival.
Flylight Drones, powered by Verge Aero, took the skies 14 times throughout the multi-day Fiesta in October to entertain the masses. Tens of thousands of spectators attended at 5:45 AM just to catch the first morning’s drone show (watch below)!
“We design these shows from scratch, so we try not to repeat ourselves.” Nils Thorjujssen, CEO of Verge Aero, said. “The evening show will be different than the one in the morning. There will be some new technology in the evening performances, some new effects I would like to leave as a surprise.”
Each show utilized 500 drones. For the early morning display, we celebrated the Fiesta’s internationality with scenes depicting hot air balloons floating over sections of North America, South America, and Europe, paying homage to each participating country. In the evenings, drones wrote “Embrace The Sky” in massive art deco letters before creating several intricate and spectacular hot air balloon designs, some accompanied with fireworks on the ground and some with pyrodrones.
Adding drone light displays to the AIBF lineup not only diversifies the event’s aviation entertainment, it also helps ensure entertainment throughout the weather-dependent festival.
Verge Aero’s wind-tolerant drone displays came in clutch multiple times when high winds prevented balloon or fireworks launches the past three years. This year, strong wind delayed the first early-morning balloon lift, but the drones carried on to successfully kick off the 2024 Fiesta.
What is dubbed as the “world’s most-photographed event” first introduced drone light displays to its schedule in 2022 after AIBF organizers discovered Verge Aero’s affordability.
AIBF executive director Paul Smith said they’d been interested in drone shows since seeing them perform at the Super Bowl half-time show, but found the cost ‘outrageous’ until they met and teamed up with the Verge Aero Network for their 50th fiesta anniversary.
Thorjujssen said thanks to state-of-the-art tools Verge Aero has within its groundbreaking drone show system, display teams can design flight-ready shows in a matter of minutes. Smith complimented the drone teams’ efficiency during their 2022 inaugural participation for being a ‘seamless’ new integration into the beloved festival.
Verge Aero and Flylight Drones are honored to have our drone light shows become a benchmark spectacle at the iconic Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. We look forward to returning in 2025 to elevate the bar even higher!
The international Balloon Fiesta takes place in early October. Save the date for next year and learn more about the event at balloonfiesta.com.