Coventry will witness a record-breaking display of 360 drones in a stunning live visual celebration of art and nature as part of a major weekend of events for the UK City of Culture.
‘Our Wilder Family’, by Celestial, the UK’s premier drone art company, is a unique one-off free event taking place in the War Memorial Park on the evening of Sunday, 15 May.
The special display, commissioned by the Coventry City of Culture Trust, is a record-breaking 16-minute-long event where drones are used as pixels to create a spectacular light show that will surprise and delight audiences in the park.
Depending on sightlines and weather conditions, the show should be visible from up to 2.5km but for the best experience including the soundtrack, audiences are encouraged to see Our Wilder Family live in the park.
For those unable to attend in person or see it in the sky, Limitless Broadcast will live stream to any device with an internet connection in high-quality 5G. It will also be possible to follow the event on radio with a simulcast led by BBC CWR and other local community stations on Sunday evening. Full details can be found at https://coventry2021.co.uk/what-s-on/our-wilder-family/
Celestial and the Coventry City of Culture Trust have also partnered with City Voices and schools across Coventry to create the mesmerising display with BAFTA, and Ivor Novello Award-winning Composer Dan Jones who has assembled the score in collaboration with communities and poets in Coventry.
Chenine Bhathena, Creative Director of City of Culture Trust, said: “As we near the end of our year as UK City of Culture, we hope Celestial’s epic symphony of drones co-created with local artists and poets, will move audiences, and engage our citizens with the beauty and joy of the natural world around us. Dan Jones’s work on the soundtrack is the perfect bookend to the year, made with local schoolchildren to capture their thoughts and hopes, as we all plan towards a greener future.”
John Hopkins, CCO & co-founder of Celestial, said: “We are incredibly proud to have collaborated on a project that will amaze Coventry - a fitting end to the wonderful content commissioned by Coventry’s City of Culture.
“Celestial prides itself on creating drone shows that push the boundaries of the artform, through creativity and innovative uses of technology. We love creating captivating shows, constantly striving for natural movements and behaviours by developing innovative animation techniques. Our resulting shows tell stories, surprising audiences with visuals that remain in their memories for years to come.”
Celestial uses innovative technologies and a cutting-edge drone fleet – currently the largest in the UK – to create amazing projections that has seen it collaborate with Greenpeace, Amnesty, Eden Project, and Huawei. Celestial has also expanded to Australia, working on the Adelaide Fringe Festival and Melbourne’s New Year event. The drones use 3D animation techniques to cast giant images into the night sky to create a new tech-driven artform that premiered at Edinburgh’s Hogmanay in 2021.
Martin Sutherland, Chief Executive of City of Culture Trust, said: “Working with Celestial to bring Our Wilder Family to life on Sunday, 15 May will be one of the City of Culture highlights as we near the end of our exciting year.
“The combination of digital tech, 5G, art and music for a mass public event that’s visible from far away is an astonishing mix. It’s yet another example of vibrant partnership working, something that is only possible with strong investment and shared creative vision.”
Our Wilder Family was commissioned by Coventry City of Culture Trust as part of its #GreenFutures programme in partnership with Warwickshire Wildlife Trust, supported by National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Tickets are available from www.coventry2021.co.uk