Skip to main content

London welcomes 2022 with amazing SKYMAGIC drone show

There’s already reason for hope that this year may well be better 2021. Almost impossibly, it seems, aerial arts specialist SKYMAGIC managed to put on an even more spectacular drone show for London’s 2022 New Year’s celebration than the gem it staged last year.

As it did at midnight last January 1, the company worked with global brand experience agency Jack Morton and London’s mayoral office to offer viewers an aerial performance blending UAVs, fireworks, and light beams. For its second act, SKYMAGIC went beyond the 300 drones flown in the 2021 extravaganza, deploying 500 craft in a variety of formations, including an iconic New Year’s party popper and a roaring lion’s head. The six-minute performance was part of a nearly 15-minute spectacle broadcast live by the BBC, and ready for viewing right here.  

Using the skyline of London’s historic Greenwich borough as its backdrop, SKYMAGIC drones danced below and between salvos of firework blasts, forming shapes and messages intended to spread hope and positivity for the coming year. The UAVs were equipped with cutting-edge RTK technology providing improved GPS accuracy and high-definition images, and enabling faster transitions between moves that evoked notable events to come in 2022, like UEFA’s Women’s Euro of soccer and the World Cup in Qatar.

That SKYMAGIC performance represented the largest drone show ever staged in London. It was also a welcome visual respite to a British public that ushered in 2022 with subdued festivities as a hedge against the rapidly spreading Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus. 

Other images formed by the UAVs were Elton John’s keyboard and star-shaped sunglasses, and Carnival scenes lit up by the crafts’ LEDs. The pyrotechnics portion of the spectacle was overseen by Titanium Fireworks, lighting design by Durham Marenghi, and accompanying music by On the Sly Productions.

SKYMAGIC clearly considered the event a success – and for good reason – and just as obviously hopes to go even further in working with Jack Morton to fly 2023 in next January.

“We were delighted to collaborate again with Jack Morton to design and deliver the drone light show for London New Year’s Eve for the second year running,” said Patrick O’Mahony, SKYMAGIC creative director. “Building on last year’s show, we have returned to the capital with a larger fleet and having developed our drone division both technologically and creatively. The 2022 show tells a celebratory story with an emphasis on three-dimensional formations, conceptual shapes and complex trajectories.”

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

DJI FPV discount sale
You’re reading DroneDJ — experts who break news about DJI and the wider drone ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow DroneDJ on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Don’t know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

Comments

Author

Avatar for Bruce Crumley Bruce Crumley

Bruce Crumley is journalist and writer who has worked for Fortune, Sports Illustrated, the New York Times, The Guardian, AFP, and was Paris correspondent and bureau chief for Time magazine specializing in political and terrorism reporting. He splits his time between Paris and Biarritz, and is the author of novel Maika‘i Stink Eye.

Manage push notifications

notification icon
We would like to show you notifications for the latest news and updates.
notification icon
You are subscribed to notifications
notification icon
We would like to show you notifications for the latest news and updates.
notification icon
You are subscribed to notifications