Adelaide Fringe’s drone show Sky Song postponed until March

Adelaide Fringe’s drone show centrepiece Sky Song has been postponed after it lost flight clearance to be held at the Showground. And it’s been moved way out of town.

Adelaide Fringe’s drone show centrepiece Sky Song has been postponed from opening on Friday until March and moved to McLaren Vale after it lost flight clearance to be held at the Showground.

Tests were being held at various locations last week to find a new venue for the spectacular, which received $350,000 funding from the State Government last October.

It will now be held 40 minutes from the city at Leconfield and Richard Hamilton Wines from March 11-20, instead of its original month-long season.

Sky Song is intended to feature hundreds of drones lighting up the sky in a choreographed display, set to a soundtrack by Indigenous Australian artists, above a 60m-wide screen projection.

The drone show Sky Song during its stint in Melbourne. Picture: David Caird

UK drone art specialists Celestial had originally received approval to stage the show from aviation regulator the Civil Aviation Safety Authority, but this was subsequently withdrawn.

Last December, Celestial also had a New Year’s Eve drones display at Melbourne’s Docklands cancelled at the last minute when CASA had safety concerns and blocked the 350-strong mechanical swarm from taking off.

The start of the Melbourne season was also delayed for two weeks.

In a statement last night, Fringe organisers said flight restrictions at the Adelaide Showground were limiting and the new venue would allow “hundreds of drones to fly much higher over the hills, creating the majestic impact that was always intended’.

Sky Song will be narrated by First Nations singer-songwriter Archie Roach and feature music by acts including Electric Fields, Kev Carmody, Nancy Bates and the Iwiri Choir.

It was meant to be the first drone show in the world to run for an entire month, but will now have just a 10-day season. Existing ticket holders will be contacted by the Fringe.