Vivid Sydney cancelled its 9.30pm “Star-Bound” drone show on Monday after a display at Darling Harbour ran into “unforeseen technical difficulties” during the 7.30pm performance. The festival then called off the drone shows planned for Tuesday and Wednesday night and said the cancelled flights would be replaced by a technical and safety review.
The shutdown affects at least five of the 22 drone shows Vivid had planned across 11 nights, with the Darling Harbour display scheduled to run twice nightly from Sunday through Wednesday. The show featured up to 1,000 drones swarming over the harbour for eight to 12 minutes, part of what the festival had promoted as its largest ever drone series.
A Vivid Sydney spokesperson said the festival “apologise[s] for the disappointment and inconvenience caused to attendees” and added that “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.” A worker at Darling Harbour described what happened more bluntly, saying there was “a cascading failure of the drones,” with machines continuing to fall, including into the crowd and into the marina. The worker said some drones nearly hit marina workers.
Behind the display was UK company Sky Magic, which was brought in for the show as Vivid expanded its drone program. In March 2026, festival director Brett Sheehy said, “We have secured the latest drone technology to ensure these are the brightest drones in the world.”
The cancellation lands against a fraught history for Vivid’s drone plans. In 2025, the festival scrapped drone shows on the advice of police and transport authorities after concerns over a potential crowd crush around Circular Quay in 2024. This year’s collapse at Darling Harbour means the same event that was meant to showcase Vivid’s biggest drone ambition is now being judged first on whether it can keep the public safe.
For now, the next step is not another performance but a review. Vivid has stopped the remaining drone shows while specialists and government agencies examine what failed and whether the festival can safely resume the series at all.
