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Vivid has officially cancelled its much-hyped drone show after an “unforeseen technical issue” caused nearly 90 drones to plunge into Darling Harbour on Monday night.
Drone shows were scheduled for most nights across the citywide festival, but organisers said those shows would be replaced with a fireworks display.
In a statement published on Saturday morning, Vivid said that an “unforeseen technical issue” had caused the drones to fall from the sky, and assessments of the incident undertaken by Sky Magic, the British company responsible for the shows, were ongoing.
“Following Monday night’s unforeseen technical issue at the Vivid Sydney Star-Bound drone performance, Vivid Sydney can confirm the remaining drone shows scheduled for this year’s festival will not proceed,” the statement read.
“Since the incident, extensive technical, operational and regulatory assessments have been undertaken by Sky Magic.
“While aspects of this work remain ongoing, the decision has been made that the drone performances will not return for the remainder of Vivid Sydney 2026.”
Public safety “will always remain the highest priority, and all decisions have been guided by expert technical and regulatory advice”.
On Monday, 83 drones fell into the water during the 7.30pm Star-Bound show, which involved 1000 drones forming patterns in the sky.
The festival confirmed that a retrieval process was under way, with a spokesperson saying that recovery efforts were “currently being co-ordinated with the specialist drone operator in consultation with relevant stakeholders and government agencies, including the NSW Environment Protection Authority”.
“Assessments are ongoing regarding the safest and most practical approach to recovery operations, including any potential environmental considerations associated with the drones entering the water,” they said.
The spokesperson added that “visibility conditions” remained a factor in “determining the timing and method of retrieval, with operators needing to ensure any recovery activity can be undertaken safely and effectively”.
Sky Magic has said that the incident on Monday was caused by an unforeseen change in the “radio frequency environment”, which the company described as an “anomaly” that had not been encountered during previous site visits and rehearsals.
The initial incident caused the shows scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday nights to be cancelled, before, on Saturday, the festival officially cancelled all the remaining shows.
The shows were scheduled to take place twice nightly from Sundays to Wednesdays, with a total of 22 shows over 11 nights of the festival, which ends on June 13. The display featured up to 1000 drones swarming over the harbour for up to 12 minutes.
The drone show was advertised as an outdoor “weather-dependent” show, the Vivid website advising attendees that shows may be cancelled “right up to show time if the weather becomes unsafe as advised by the specialist operators”.
It was supposed to be the festival’s largest ever drone series, after shows were cancelled in 2025 on the advice of police and transport authorities in response to a potential crowd crush around Circular Quay in 2024.
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Mostafa Rachwani is a Parramatta reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald. He was previously the Community Affairs reporter at Guardian Australia.Connect via email.From our partners
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