A towering "giant tree" rises from the ground, with thousands of golden "feather" fireworks shimmering and dancing within its canopy. Photo: Changsha Evening News

A performance jointly staged by 15,947 drones and 7,496 fireworks in Liuyang, Central China's Hunan Province, recently broke two Guinness World Records, earning a recommendation from Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning and attracting a repost from Tech billionaire Elon Musk on his social media platform X.

During the daytime fireworks display at the 17th Liuyang Fireworks Cultural Festival, thousands of drones adorned with brilliant fireworks formed precise patterns in the sky, including a clear double-helix DNA structure, a seed, blooming flower, and butterflies, leaving visitors in awe, local media outlet Hunan Today reported.

The drone team said they aim to integrate fireworks art with technology to convey the theme of coexistence between humans and nature.

In the performance, the drone formation carrying 7,496 fireworks set the Guinness World Record for the most fireworks carried by a drone formation in flight, the report said.

During the evening performance, accompanied by melodious music, the drone formation created a towering tree symbolizing the power of life by rapidly shifting formation. Immediately afterward, thousands of feather-shaped fireworks burst forth from between the branches, intertwining beautifully with the canopy formed by the drones.

A total of 15,947 drones took to the skies during the performance, leveraging an intelligent program control system to achieve millisecond-level precision in synchronizing fireworks explosions with drone light arrays. This feat set the Guinness World Record for the most drones simultaneously launched and controlled by a single computer. 

The stunning performances sparked an online sensation, with related video clips widely shared on social platforms. Some netizens leave comments such as "This is Chinese-style romance" and "Fireworks in Liuyang never fail to surprise people."

Additionally, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning shared performance video on X. Musk also reposted the relevant videos, drawing comments from netizens like "Jaw dropping," "absolutely brilliant," and "Tech, art and precision all in perfect sync."

Technological innovation enabled the core breakthrough of this performance, the report said. Both fireworks shows, supported by the intelligent program control system, achieved millisecond-level precision in synchronizing fireworks displays and drone light arrays. 

This not only demonstrated the perfect integration of drone technology and fireworks art but also marked a groundbreaking step for Liuyang in innovating its fireworks industry.


Global Times