Vivid Sydney Drone Show Grounded After 89 Units Sink Into Darling Harbour

The show was called Star-Bound. On Monday evening, 89 drones fell out of formation above Cockle Bay during Vivid Sydney’s 7:30 p.m. performance and plunged into Darling Harbour, ending both performances of the night and triggering the cancellation of the next two evenings of shows. It was the second night of the drone program at Australia’s largest winter festival, and the first clear night the 1,000-drone fleet had flown without a rain interruption.

SkyMagic, the UK-based company operating the swarm, blamed an unforeseen shift in the radio frequency environment that arrived only after take-off, invisible to the pre-flight checks, site visits, and rehearsals the company had already completed. As of Tuesday, a decision on whether the show resumes rests with operators and the New South Wales government.

89 Drones Into Cockle Bay

The failure began shortly after the first formations assembled above the harbour. An anonymous witness working in the Darling Harbour precinct described the sequence to ABC News as swift and cascading: