Miss the big drone light show at Exploration Place? Here’s a video recap
If you missed the drone light show that drew big crowds to Exploration Place on Saturday and Sunday nights, don’t worry: We have a video recap for you.
The futuristic show, the first of its kind in Wichita, featured 200 illuminated, computer-controlled drones that flew 400 feet over the Arkansas River forming different shapes.
People crowded onto the riverbanks at Exploration Place for the 20-minute shows, which were set to techno music. They paid $15 a person or $60 a carload to watch the show from the best seats right outside Exploration Place, where food trucks and a live band were also set up.
At Sunday night’s show, the gathered crowd watched as the drones took flight and made their formations just beyond the Keeper of the Plains statue. They were launched from a grassy area near the Mid-America All-Indian Center at 650 S. Seneca.
At one point, the drones coalesced into a spinning, color-changing orb. The drones then scattered and resumed in the shapes of flowers, the planet Saturn, a spinning star and more.
At one point, the drones formed the shape of the Wichita flag, which hovered above the river before turning into the United States flag. People in the audience gasped and cheered.
The drones also formed the shape of a prop plane with a spinning propeller that appeared to dip and turn as it flew.
Adam Smith, the president of Exploration Place, said that the show was a bigger hit than even the staff expected. He estimates about 4,000 people attended the show each night.
Now that he’s seen how much Wichita loved drone show, he said, he definitely plans to put on another one in the future.
Smith said he wasn’t anticipating that people would cheer as they watched, and it brought tears to his eyes to see how much spectators were enjoying it, he said.
“The photos and video do not do it justice,” he said. “You just have to see it with your own eyes to appreciate the whole three dimensional aspect of it.”
Smith said that he and his staff are already talking about ways to improve their next drone light show. Though operationally, the event went well, there are some changes he’d make in the future, including finding a launch site that would allow the drones to get a little closer to the crowds.
“I just thought it was magical,” Smith said. And I feel like this is just the beginning. We are just beginning the journey of what these shows are going to be, and if it’s this good now, wow, it’s going to be so amazing as we explore different formations and more drones.”
This story was originally published June 6, 2022 at 10:53 AM.
.jpg)