Fireworks and Drones Unite: Verge Aero at PGI 2024

Drone and pyrotechnic experts presented a narrative-driven multimedia masterpiece with nearly 2,000 drones and thousands of fireworks at the 2024 Pyrotechnics Guild International Convention.

Verge Aero Partner Network teamed up with Spirit of ‘76 Fireworks this August to produce the Grand Public Display–with drones!–a second year in a row at the Pyrotechnics Guild International Convention.

Following our viral 2023 drone-pyro production of an AI dystopia (the one featuring a giant robot head attacking the earth with its laser eyes), the display team sought to push the drone-pyro relationship even further with a narrative-driven display destined to delight the stargazer in us all.

Thanks to a partnership of award-winning designers, ‘Cosmos: A Space Odyssey’ is a stellar example of drones and pyrotechnics working in harmony. Integrating the two mediums of sky entertainment allowed us to bring this galactic story of humans’ fascination, exploration, and interaction with outer space to life.

‘Cosmos’ was a masterpiece that required flexible collaboration of Verge’s ambitious drone show experts and Spirit’s industry-leading fireworks team (not to mention state-of-the-art drone simulation software and an army of incredible on-site volunteers) to pull off.

For Verge’s second PGI grand public display co-production with Spirit of ‘76, we had to go big! Drone designers created enormous and gorgeously intricate scenes that could only be achieved with a huge swarm–1,800 drones provided by Verge Network Partners–punctuated with thousands of meticulously scripted and carefully positioned fireworks.

Designers combined historical events with futuristic sci-fi elements to craft an out-of-this-world narrative woven throughout the show. Considering the extraneous logistics of presenting firework-and-drone integrated displays, ‘Cosmos’ stands out as one of the largest and most narratively driven integrations so far.

This massive display featured 90 pyrodrones and was one of the very first public displays in the United States in which fireworks were launched from drones.

‘Cosmos’ may have even featured the closest physical integration of drones to fireworks sequences in a public US display as of its August 2024 performance–in some instances, drones were within 100 feet from aerial bursts.

What’s next for firework + drone integrations?

For drone displays integrated with fireworks and other media, we are only limited by our imagination!

However, we don’t attempt massive displays like these for the sake of it; it’s all about the story, as Verge’s Chris Lutts said in a podcast episode with Spirit of ‘76.

“How do we tell the story and make it intentional? You don’t want to end up with ‘sky puke’ or drones and fireworks just for the sake of it,” Lutts said. “We want there to be a beginning, middle, and end. I think we can get more creative on how those interactions happen, and when they happen, and what happens with them.”

‘Cosmos: A Space Odyssey’ was a massive multi-partner production with Verge Aero Network partners Flylight Drones, Northern Lights Drone Shows, Rozzi Fireworks, Fantasy Drone Shows, Open Sky Pro, Fireworks by Grucci, Cape May Aerial Ads, Skylight Ads, and Chicago Drone Light Shows. The fireworks, provided by Spirit of ‘76 and Giuliani Fireworks, were launched using a combination of Cobra Firing Systems‬, StarFire, and FireOne modules.

We learned a hell of a lot from this enormous collaboration! Verge cannot wait for the next opportunity to present an integrated show with our entertainment and fireworks partners.

Watch a behind-the-scenes video below.