Minns said “we're determined to see more in Sydney, especially over the next 12 months. This one didn't go ahead, but there will be many more opportunities in the coming months and years.”
They made the call as late as possible, not to upset the families, but to see if they could go ahead with the program.
NSW Premier Chris Minns on cancellation of Vivid Sydney drone show on Saturday.
The light festival officially ended at 11pm on Saturday after running since May 24. However, the drone show was only scheduled on three nights of the show.
Organizers had previously reported that “large crowds are expected for the drone show,” adding that drone operations “are very sensitive and dependent on weather conditions to continue.”
One TikTok user said he believed the decision should have been announced “at least 2 hours earlier instead of 30 minutes”. Another said it was “[a] a little disappointed because the weather wasn't that bad.”
“Public safety is paramount”
The drones were operated by the Australian Transport Network (ATN), which has previously created drone shows for State of Origin and Vivid.
ATN CEO Vic Lorusso said in a statement on Sunday that “[our] The pilot in command made the difficult but critical decision to cancel the last drone show last night.”
“The decision was driven by pilot experience, forecast rainfall and continuous monitoring by the Met Office for 2.5 hours before the planned launch. During this period, we tracked a cell major weather approaching, which was expected to coincide with our flight time,” he said.
“The risk of launching drones in these conditions was too great. Flying in bad weather conditions could cause the drones to malfunction or collide, posing a significant danger to the safety of the audience.
Mr Lorousso told ABC Radio Sydney that “we had two amazing drone shows last weekend”.
“We're just as disappointed as everyone else, but I'm glad we didn't throw them out and have them malfunction.”
A spokesperson for Vivid Sydney said: “We are very disappointed that our last drone show has been canceled and apologize for any inconvenience caused. Drones are very sensitive and shows are weather dependent.
“Public safety is paramount and Vivid Sydney is following the direction and advice of specialist drone operators.”
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In one incident during a light show in Melbourne last July, drones fell from the sky and plunged into the Yarra River before a Matildas football match at Marvel Stadium. No one was injured.
Vivid Sydney narrowly avoided disaster last weekend when crowds flocked to Sydney Harbor to catch a glimpse of the drone show, one of the main attractions of the annual festival.
After the show concluded at around 9.20pm on 8 June, a bottleneck formed near the overseas passenger terminal as crowds moved towards Circular Quay train stations and Wynyard.
Asked about the crowds around Wynyard station and whether it was an accident waiting to happen, Minns said: “The crowd last Saturday was not good. Mistakes were made; I think there there was an underestimation of how many people would turn out.
“To give credit to the organisers, they did a major tour the next morning, nobody tried to sweep it under the carpet, it was a great tour with [NSW] Police, emergency services and Vivid organizers. As a result, there were more road closures.”
Minns said that “we are a major city; we should be able to accommodate hundreds of thousands of people, even close to 1,000,000 people on our shores. We did it for the fireworks.
“Our job is to communicate in the best way so that people have fun and enjoy themselves. I'm sure we've learned our lessons, even though last Saturday wasn't great.”
with Sarah McPhee
