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Updated May 26, 2026 — 8:59am,first published 7:17am
Drones raining from the sky into Sydney’s Darling Harbour have led to a pause in one of light festival Vivid’s showcase events, with dozens plunging into the water, some of which are yet to be fished out.
Monday’s 9.30pm “Star-Bound” drone show was cancelled due to “unforeseen technical difficulties” during the 7.30pm display.
“We apologise for the disappointment and inconvenience caused to attendees,” a Vivid Sydney spokesperson said in a statement.
“Public safety is always the number one priority and a full assessment is now underway with the specialist operators and relevant government agencies advising on next steps,” they added.
The 9.30pm event was cancelled and shows on Tuesday and Wednesday night have been called off in favour of a technical and safety review.
Organisers warned the drone show was “weather dependent” and conditions were being closely monitored on Monday to determine whether it could proceed before the incident.
A worker at Darling Harbour told ABC Local Radio there was a “cascading failure of the drones”.
“They kept falling, including, from reports, entering the crowd, as well as, I witnessed myself, crashing into the marina and almost hitting some marina workers.”
“Everything seemed normal and then very shortly after that first image was displayed, on the southern side of Cockle Bay you started seeing drones dropping in the water and then from there it was a cascading failure of the drones,” he said.
Vivid Sydney disputes the claim and says, “to our knowledge no drones landed outside the designated exclusion zone”.
UK company Sky Magic, which is behind the drone display, said 89 drones landed in the water around Cockle Bay.
“No vehicle escaped the safety boundary of the show parameters and the reaction of the pilots and crew were timely and appropriate in accordance with our operations manual and processes.
“Some vehicles during the emergency landing phase encountered the geofence boundary and shut down to preserve the safety zone resulting in them falling into the water,” the company said in a statement.
The issue was caused by an unforeseen change in the “radio frequency environment” which the company described as an “anomaly” and had not been encountered during previous site visits and rehearsals.
Vivid had planned its largest ever drone series this year, after the shows were cancelled in 2025 on the advice of police and transport authorities following a potential crowd crush around Circular Quay in 2024.
The drone show at Darling Harbour was scheduled to take place twice nightly between Sunday and Wednesday with a total of 22 shows over 11 nights during the weeks’ long festival. At least five of those shows are set to be scrapped.
The displays feature up to 1000 drones swarming over the harbour for eight to 12 minutes.
“We have secured the latest drone technology to ensure these are the brightest drones in the world,” Vivid’s new director Brett Sheehy told the Herald in March.
Drone shows have risen in popularity globally as the technology developed over the past decade.
But they have not always run flawlessly.
Cascading errors, wind and connectivity issues led to 427 drones being lost during a drone show over Melbourne’s Victoria Harbour in July 2023, many of the drones plunging into the water below.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau and Civil Aviation Safety Authority have been contacted for comment.
While the drone shows have been cancelled for at least two nights, dozens of other scheduled Vivid events will continue. Showers are expected on Tuesday, expected to ease on Wednesday, but followed by heavy rain through the rest of the week.
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