Close to the confused audience: dozens of drones crashed at the huge festival in Sydney

Thousands of tourists and local revelers arrived tonight (between Monday and Tuesday) at the Festival of Lights in Sydney to enjoy the magnificent display of drones – but an unusual malfunction caused quite a bit of confusion. Almost 90 drones fell from the sky and crashed in the water near the port, at the height of the show, during which illuminated drones fly together in the sky in a synchronized show.

Organizers of the Vivid Sydney festival said the glitch was due to “unforeseen technical difficulties” and canceled their upcoming shows. The British company responsible for the show blamed a change in radio frequencies for the malfunction, and claimed that no drone fell outside the established safety limits. In the documents from the event you can see the drones falling not far from the confused crowd.

“During the show we experienced a technical malfunction that caused 89 drones to land in the waters around the bay,” the company said, stressing that according to a preliminary examination it does not appear to be foreign intervention, but the direction is still being investigated. The festival itself apologized for the disappointment and inconvenience caused to the participants,” adding that the drone operators canceled the show “in accordance with standard safety protocols.”

The show was supposed to last 12 minutes and include about a thousand illuminated drones. It is presented as part of the Vivid Sydney festival which began in 2009 and defines itself as “the largest festival of light, music, ideas and food in the southern hemisphere”.