What's that within the July night sky? It's a bird… it's a plane… no, it's a drone.
Fireworks won't be the one thing lighting up the Bay Area this Independence Day. Several cities and events are hosting their very own Americana-themed drone shows — featuring a whole bunch of mini unmanned aircraft equipped with LED lights to create various patterns, shapes and animations within the sky. It's all a part of an effort to scale back carbon footprints and offer community-friendly — and safer — festivities.
In the South Bay, Sunnyvale will host its first city-run drone show on July 4, while San Pablo and Pinole will hold theirs the identical day within the East Bay. The Alameda County Fair, currently running through July 7 in Pleasanton, has been offering drone shows along with fireworks since 2022.
“The drone show is another way to bring residents together and celebrate Independence Day in a more environmentally friendly way,” said Sunnyvale Mayor Larry Klein.
Fireworks have been a staple of the Fourth of July for many years. But over the past decade, environmental activists have raised concerns in regards to the impact that releasing hundreds of explosives – often filled with toxins akin to sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide – could have into the atmosphere.
A study from 2015 A study published within the journal Atmospheric Environment found that air pollution increases on Independence Day. On average, the Fourth of July fireworks release 42% more toxins into the air than on a traditional day.
It doesn't help that fireworks also pose a possible fire hazard through the hot summer months. Each July, the state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection warns residents to be cautious because setting off fireworks in dry areas with high winds can quickly start fires. According to the National Consumer Product Safety Commission, fireworks cause an estimated 18,500 fires within the United States annually.
Such concerns have led to online petitions and native appeals to interchange fireworks with light-based alternatives.
That's where drone technology involves the rescue. The drones are controlled by a pc system that synchronizes their movements and have battery-powered LED lights. When a whole bunch of them come together, they’ll create visual explosions of color, reducing air pollution and noise pollution, says Tyler Kubicz, production manager at Sky Elements, a Texas-based drone show company.
Sky Elements will perform greater than 35 public drone shows on July 4th This 12 months across the country, local events are going down on the Alameda County Fair and in San Pablo.
For Sunnyvale, which goals to chop the town's greenhouse gas emissions in half by the tip of the last decade, drone shows reinforce the town's sustainability and environmental goals, Klein said. Pinole, which can also be making its first drone use, hopes to set a positive example for its residents with the eco-friendly show, in accordance with city spokeswoman Fiona Epps.
San Pablo will host the town's second Independence Day drone show on the community center. The city used to have traditional fireworks displays, but cleansing up the debris left behind became a chore, in accordance with Greg Dwyer, the town's community services director. Residents and city employees appreciate that the drones produce less trash, he said.
Aside from the environmental advantages, said Angel Moore, chief operating officer of the Alameda County Fair, drones can display quite a lot of unique patterns and animations. They are perfect for entertaining fairgoers, as shows run nearly every night through the three-week fair period.
“When the shapes change from one image to the next, you hear the 'oohs' and 'ahhs' from the crowd,” Moore said. “People get excited when they see the different images.”
While cities promote drone shows on the grounds that they’re environmentally friendly, some prefer the quiet of drones to the loud bang of fireworks – especially for the sake of their four-legged friends.
Marjoleine de Waal Malefijt prefers drone shows because they’re less stressful for the animals she cares for. The Sunnyvale resident works at Animal Assisted Happiness, a Sunnyvale-based nonprofit that gives assistance to youth in need with cattle. The farm is positioned in Baylands Park, the placement of the drone show.
The cattle – including chickens, guinea pigs, rabbits and alpacas – are normally calm, but could easily be frightened by loud noises from fireworks.
“We are glad there are no fireworks,” she said. “We were very worried that it would stress the animals too much.”
Many animals grow to be frightened by the noise and excitement of fireworks and run away from familiar places and other people. According to the Humane Society of the United States, some animals may even suffer fatal health consequences from the stress.
Despite the growing interest in drone shows, there are some iconic points of fireworks that machines can't replicate, says Matthew Gilfillan, show producer and artistic producer for the Northern California region of Pyro Spectaculars by Souza. The fireworks company is one in all the most important on this planet and hosts annual fireworks displays in cities akin to San Francisco, Oakland, Redwood City and San Jose.
“There's that bang factor that fireworks have,” he said. “That visceral feeling of a shake in your chest, the smell of smoke and the supersaturated brightness of the colors in the sky. Drones don't do that very well.”
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