International Fireworks Festival Malta
At the international fireworks festival in Malta, SMIA flew the first drone show ever held on the island, together with Verge Aero. Led by Verge Aero, 700 drones added a dimension to Malta's pyrotechnics tradition that the audience there had not seen before.
Details
Drone show in Malta: the island’s first drone show
At the international fireworks festival in Malta, the first drone show ever held on the island took to the sky. SMIA delivered it together with Verge Aero. The drones did not replace the fireworks but flew alongside them.
Malta has a centuries-old pyrotechnics tradition, with every town running its own fireworks factory. The audience watches all the more closely as a result. After the show, the footage spread through Malta’s social media channels, and the response was clearly positive.
Three shows, 700 drones in the finale
The festival comprised three appearances. Two smaller drone shows introduced the format, followed by the closing show with 700 drones alongside the main fireworks in the harbour. The drones formed three-dimensional images over the water while the fireworks lit up the sky at the same time.
Technical challenges in Malta
Malta is densely built up. Suitable take-off and landing sites for 700 drones are correspondingly rare on the island. The team therefore planned the use of space carefully in advance and coordinated every step with the disciplines involved. The harbour setting added to it: water, wind and the proximity to historic buildings further limited the usable airspace.
Working with Verge Aero
The show ran on Verge Aero’s drone system. In a parallel staging of drones and pyrotechnics, timing decides everything: both disciplines share the same airspace, and the coordination has to be right to the second. The integrated system made this synchronisation plannable.
Maltese motifs in the sky
The drone motifs drew on cultural elements of Malta and translated them into three-dimensional light images. The audience did not see just any drone show, but images with a local connection. That is exactly what the crowd responded to, as the reception after the festival showed.
Conclusion
The premiere in Malta shows that drones and traditional fireworks work side by side. Since the festival, the format has established itself on the island.
