Utah News Dispatch
Salt Lake City doubles the size of its drone shows for 2025 summer holidays
Salt Lake City’s drone show on July 5, 2024 at Jordan Park (Courtesy of Salt Lake City Department of Public Lands)
Three years after the Salt Lake City Council voted against a budget item to pay for holiday fireworks citing environmental reasons, the city’s new-ish tradition of hosting hundreds of colorful drones in the sky is getting bigger in 2025.
The Fourth of July and Pioneer Day drone shows will double the size Salt Lakers saw last year, city officials announced this week.
“So 150 is pretty typical for a drone show. And this year, for the first time, we’ll be doing 300 drones, which will allow us the ability to have bigger, better, more intricate, more detailed images up in the sky with the drones,” said Jana Cunningham, communications manager for the Salt Lake City Department of Public Lands.
For Saturday, the day after Independence Day, the city is planning a big event in Jordan Park starting at 8 p.m. with live music and food trucks. The drone show, scheduled to last about 20 minutes, will begin at 10 p.m.
The Saturday lights display is set to feature iconic monuments from across the country, Cunningham said, “such as the Space Needle, the Golden Gate Bridge and Statue of Liberty, the Lincoln Memorial, things like that.”
The city’s Pioneer Day drone show will cap off a full day of celebrations on July 24 at Liberty Park. That event is also set to start at 8 p.m., but the drone display is scheduled for 10 p.m.
To celebrate the most Utah-centric holiday, the city is planning a show that reflects the state’s idiosyncratic culture.
“Spectators can enjoy graphics and images such as national parks,” Cunningham said. “We’re going to do soda shops, because nothing screams Utah more than a dirty soda.”
Cookie wars, city and state flags, and other Utah landmarks are also expected to make appearances in the drones’ choreographies.
The city has been hosting drone shows since 2023 in line with its sustainability goals, and attendees have embraced the new tradition, Cunningham said.
She also said it’s a safer alternative to fireworks.
“We have a great risk of fire,” Cunningham said. “(Fireworks) also create quite a bit of pollution in the air and debris in the air. And really, we switched to drones because it guarantees more of a safe and environmentally friendly celebration.”
Private firework discharges are still allowed in the city. But, there are restricted areas to help prevent accidental fires.
