Brisbane’s drone shows have become a regular highlight on the city’s night- time calendar, especially around New Year’s Eve and the annual Brisbane Festival.

What is the “Brisbane drone show”?

  • Large-scale light shows using fleets of drones with LED lights to create animated shapes, stories, and text in the sky.
  • Often paired with music, narration, or broader events like fireworks and river celebrations.
  • Promoted as a more environmentally friendly alternative or complement to traditional fireworks.

Latest and recent events

New Year’s Eve 2025–26 at South Bank

  • Brisbane’s official NYE celebration featured:
    • Two major fireworks displays at 7:45 pm and midnight.
    • Drone shows scheduled for 9 pm and 11 pm over South Bank, adding coordinated light formations above the river.
  • Positioned as a “colour explosion” to ring in 2026 with a combined drones-plus-fireworks experience.

Brisbane Festival drone shows

  • The Brisbane Festival has been running large creative drone shows over the river and South Bank in recent years.
  • 2023: “Nieergoo: Spirit of the Whale”
    • 400 drones.
    • Told a First Nations creation story of the islands in Moreton Bay and Meanjin (Brisbane).
    • Staged directly after Riverfire, with multiple sessions over two nights and crowds in the tens of thousands.
  • 2024–2025: Evolving concepts and festival programming continued, with drone events becoming a recurring festival drawcard.

“Skylore — The Rainbow Serpent” (Brisbane Festival)

  • Three-dimensional multicolour drone show as part of Brisbane Festival.
  • Focus: storytelling of a First Nations creation story of the Brisbane River, narrated by Traditional Owner Shannon Ruska, with an original score by Guy Webster.
  • Key points:
    • Around 400 drones choreographed into shapes and characters in the sky.
    • Free to attend, no ticket required.
    • Staged from Festival Garden in South Bank and Queen’s Wharf, with suggested dates in late September (e.g., 19–21 September for one season).
  • Marketed as family friendly and one of the flagship festival nights.

Special ticketed drone art experiences

  • “Drone Art Show” by Novasky in Brisbane:
    • Hosted at Sirromet Winery (Mount Cotton Road, Mount Cotton, QLD).
    • Combines classical music performed live with a synchronised drone light show overhead.
    • Tickets are sold via the Fever app; marketed as a more intimate, concert-style evening rather than a huge city festival.

How Brisbane’s drone shows typically work

  • Swarms of small drones, each with programmable LEDs, act like pixels in the sky to draw images and words.
  • Choreography is pre-programmed to music and narration, telling stories or forming symbols (e.g., animals, rivers, cultural figures).
  • Batteries and design are optimised to operate safely over water or large clear areas; many are designed to float if they end up in water.
  • Professional operators such as Drone Sky Shows and similar companies handle storyboarding, animation, and show logistics from concept through to execution.

Where people talk about it (forum / social buzz)

  • Local forums and social threads (e.g., Brisbane-focused communities) often light up with:
    • “Is the drone show on tonight?”–type questions, especially when weather or wind makes people unsure if it will proceed.
* View-sharing and videos from South Bank showing quieter vantage points or crowd tips.
  • Common discussion themes:
    • How drones compare to fireworks (noise, pets, environmental impact).
    • Best viewing spots along South Bank, Kangaroo Point, and around the river.
    • Cultural storytelling aspects at Brisbane Festival shows (strong interest in First Nations-led narratives).

Practical tips if you want to go

  • Check official event pages (Brisbane Festival, Brisbane City Council events, or venue/event pages) on the day for:
    • Final times.
    • Weather-related cancellations or adjustments.
  • For South Bank/river shows:
    • Arrive early for a clear riverside view.
    • Use public transport (South Brisbane Station, Cultural Centre bus stops are popular for Festival Garden).
  • For ticketed shows like the Drone Art Show:
    • Book early and keep your ticket in the associated app (e.g., Fever) as instructed by the organiser.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.