Five hundred drones will be in the sky over downtown Dallas on New Year’s Eve. The days are counting down to 2026 and our Lone Star New Year’s Eve program. One key part of the program is the large show put on by Sky Elements Drone Shows.
New Year’s Eve night, 700 feet in the sky, the company will host a 500-drone show with pyrotechnics at Reunion Tower.
Monday afternoon, stacks and stacks of drones were prepared and programmed for what will be quite a show over downtown Dallas.
“Reunion Tower is so special because we have the ball up there. We have another couple of hundred lights that are lighting us,” said Rick Boss.
With one pilot, one co-pilot, and hundreds of drones, each programmed with its own individual route, they’ll make a collage of designs in the sky.
“With drones, they have an extra element to be able to tell the story. So if there’s a big event, a logo, a wow moment, we can do that with drones,” said Boss.
The company has almost 70 full-time employees and has been planning this show since July. Programming hundreds of drones for a performance like this takes between 60 and 70 hours in the days ahead.
New this year, after waiting two years for the Federal Aviation Administration to approve the plans, pyrotechnics will be attached.
For Boss, it brings an entirely new element to the show over Reunion Tower.
“Drones are not going to replace fireworks. We love fireworks. They’re awesome. We love fireworks ourselves. And what we like is to put both of them together. It’s a new medium, a new way to design shows and bring something special to the audience,” he said.
The show on New Year’s Eve will begin just before midnight because the drones and the pyrotechnics need to be in the air when the new year comes in.