Drone shows in Sharjah

Opening the 15th Sharjah Light Festival

We opened the 15th Sharjah Light Festival with a drone show on the first night, working with Sharjah Tourism. Our show flew over one site, above an illuminated facade.

The festival itself ran from 3 to 15 February 2026 under the theme ‘Reflections of Belonging’, turning the architecture of locations across the emirate into an open-air gallery of light.

What the drones drew

The show was built from symbols that read instantly in Sharjah rather than from abstract patterns. Above the illuminated facade the drones formed, one after another: a falcon with open wings, while falcons in flight ran across the facade below in projection; an open book; a dallah, the Arabic coffee pot, pouring coffee.

That principle matters at a civic festival. The picture works when the audience recognises something of its own in it, rather than looking at a beautiful pattern that belongs somewhere else.

Local procedures in Sharjah

Sharjah has its own aviation department and NOC service, as do Ras Al Khaimah, Ajman and Fujairah. Outside Dubai and Abu Dhabi the route is built on the principle of the federal base plus the local procedure of the emirate.

The federal layer sets the basic requirements for unmanned operations, for the registration of drones, for pilot approvals, for insurance and for the coordination of airspace use. The local layer is added on top.

The same show format in different emirates may call for a different set of local steps, even when the federal part is identical. Which is why the emirate and the exact location are settled before the chain begins.

Where a project starts

With the site, not the script. The order is: choose the emirate and the exact location, obtain the NOC from the site, then the ground approvals and the aviation part, with the local procedures of the emirate in parallel.

The site’s NOC records the exact place and coordinates, the date and the time window, and the right to use a particular take-off point and place equipment. The windows for tests and the rehearsal are best written into the same letter from the outset.

The altitude is stated when the application is filed. If it is not, the default is 120 metres, and for an animation of more than 400 drones that is usually too low. It cannot be added on site on the day of the show.

The festival format

A civic festival runs in series and across several locations. A show inside it is not a separate act but part of the evening: it has to sit in the common rhythm, work on top of the existing lighting and read from the points where people actually stand.

That changes the approach to the script. What matters is less the maximum number of drones and more how well the images are recognised and how they sit against architecture that is already lit.

Parameters

Our fleet covers shows of up to 9,000 drones, and a programme can run up to 25 minutes. The drones operate in winds up to 12 m/s, in light rain and in temperatures from –10 °C to +50 °C. As a guide, about $100–200 (AED 370–730) per drone, excluding 5 per cent VAT in the UAE.

We obtain the permits, not the client. In the UAE we have our own legal entity, the fleet is registered in the country and the pilots hold local approvals. Public liability is insured for two million US dollars, and the cover is worldwide.

Our shows in the other emirates

In Dubai we staged a show at the Dubai Frame for Emirates NBD and Mastercard and 1,000 drones above the golf club at the IBA World Boxing Championships; more on our page about outdoor drone shows in Dubai.

In Abu Dhabi 1,000 drones opened the Festival of Health, we closed Oriflame’s international conference in the sky beside the airport grounds and flew at the Met Dhabi launch; more on our page about outdoor drone shows in Abu Dhabi.

How approvals work in the country is set out in outdoor drone shows in the UAE. Our services: outdoor drone shows, indoor drone shows, radio-controlled airships and custom flying objects.

Where to start

Tell us where and when the event takes place and what it marks: an anniversary, an opening, a national date, a product launch. The occasion shapes the script and the size of the programme, while the site and the date shape how long the approvals take. That is enough for us to come back with a timeline and a price.