Texas-Based Company Blends Fireworks and Cutting-Edge Technology
Sky Elements Drone Shows, a company that recently impressed on America’s Got Talent, has set a new Guinness World Record for the highest number of remote-operated multirotor drones launching fireworks simultaneously. The record-breaking event took place in Mansfield, Texas, where 1,164 pyrotechnic-launching UAVs lit up the sky, surpassing the previous record of 1,068 drones held by South Korea’s Pablo Air.
An official adjudicator from Guinness World Records verified the achievement. Tyler Kubicz, Sky Elements’ production manager, noted that the company launched 1,200 Phoenix pyrotechnic drones, with 36 failing to function properly. However, the remaining drones were enough to break the record by nearly 100 drones.
A New Era of Aerial Entertainment
Founded in 2020 as a successor to a traditional pyrotechnics company, Sky Elements received the first-ever FAA waiver for launching pyrotechnics from drones in May. Since then, they have performed at Major League baseball games, music festivals, and private events. Kubicz mentioned that Sky Elements handles around 60% of all drone shows in the U.S. and recently placed third in the finals of NBC’s America’s Got Talent.
Innovative and Pet-Friendly Shows
Sky Elements’ shows combine the choreographed beauty of preprogrammed lighted drones with the nostalgic excitement of traditional fireworks. The Mansfield show, set to music broadcast over FM radio, produced minimal noise, making it enjoyable for pets and noise-sensitive individuals.
A History of Record-Breaking Performances
The Mansfield event is the latest in a series of Guinness World Records for Sky Elements. In July, at San Diego Comic-Con, they set and broke their own record for the largest aerial display of a fictional character with formations of Deadpool and Wolverine, using 1,599 and 1,607 drones, respectively. Last December, they achieved two records for a Nutcracker-themed display in North Richland Hills, Texas.
In July 2023, Sky Elements won the Guinness World Records title for the largest aerial sentence formed by multi-rotors or drones, flying 1,002 drones in a show celebrating U.S. history.
Kubicz emphasized that drone-launched pyrotechnic shows are meant to complement, not replace, traditional fireworks. “They provide their own sort of aerial entertainment that drone shows just do differently,” he said.