World travel summit lights up desert sky with 1,600 drones

A 1,600-strong fleet of AO drones lit up the desert sky in Riyadh to celebrate the 22nd World Travel & Tourism Council Global Summit.

The production team utilised 1,000 of AO’s supercharged LED drones and 600 pyro drones, which ejected a ‘waterfall’ of glitter-sparks into the night sky. The multi-disciplinary show also employed 34 lasers and 40 Falcon 7K searchlights.

The LED drones were programmed to showcase World Travel & Tourism Council Global Summit-related imagery, referencing the historic setting of the display in the symbolic birthplace of Saudi Arabia, Diriyah, and the Unesco World Heritage Site At-Turaif.

The show was enjoyed by more than 3,000 travel executives, tourism officials and members of the media, as well as special guests including actor Edward Norton, former UK prime minister Theresa May and ex-United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon.

AO Multimedia & Drones’ Marco Niedermeier, who produced the drones, lights and lasers, says: “Creative Director Phil Grucci wanted to go big on this event, and brought us in to deliver a memorable LED drones, pyro drones, searchlights and laser show, including technical planning and execution that would perfectly coordinate with the Grucci Fireworks display and be programmed to showcase logos and 3D effects, while highlighting and respecting the historical site we were in.”

In the planning stages, the teams worked closely to ensure the drones, lasers, searchlights and fireworks would be choreographed in perfect unison with each other and the accompanying soundtrack.

As the drones were taking off from within a Unesco World Heritage site where archaeological digs were going on, a raised launchpad had to be constructed to ensure that the devices did not interfere with any palm trees. The team also had to put into place protections to ensure none of the excavation areas were damaged.

“We had a lot of technical permissions to go through with the Royal Guard, aviation authorities and the police,” says Niedermeier. “We were in regular communication with them and were ready to halt test flights when there was a helicopter flying in or out of the palace.”

The searchlights also required specially built scaffolding towers, which were placed along the path of the Salwa Palace. “We even had to temporarily remove a telecommunications tower, which was next to the launch site and could have obstructed the drones,” says Niedermeier.

“We – and the technology – keep on evolving,” says Grucci. “We keep ahead of the technology. We don’t let technology drive the design. In fact, the design is driving the technology.”