Breaking Up With The Boom?

In the past century, when I was a young’un (wow did that feel weird to write) the sole way to celebrate the 4th was fireworks. Pyrotechnic mania in the sky, with plenty of booms to boot. But much like physical media, a growing number of municipalities are “breaking up with the boom.” Salt Lake City was a pioneer in using drones- it broke up with the boom 3 years ago due to pollution and air quality issues.

A few cities in Arizona gave similar reasons. Here in Wisconsin itself, Milwaukee had a drone show this year because it was 200k cheaper and made less noise and air pollution. As many pet owners can attest, many animals aren’t having the loudness of a traditional July 4th show. I couldn’t find precise numbers, but over a few dozen cities are either using drones or a combination of drones and trad fireworks for the 4th. According to Sky Elements CEO Rick Boss, demand began to rise during the pandemic four years ago. They are a lot of work, too: Boss states that a show of 300 drones may need up to 80 hours of programming to properly function.

As an amateur environmentalist, I’m all for a more earth friendly option. Furthermore, while I do enjoy fireworks, the sound can be overwhelming. My hometown of Oshkosh has remained committed to tradition. I sympathize with my canine Hemi as we both find ourselves shocked when we hear a particular large BOOM. Fireworks are firmly engrained in Americana, so they won’t disappear overnight. However, as John P. Carlson writes for the Notre Dame Student Magazine:

“…It’s only a matter of time before the drones get bigger, faster, easier to program and able to perform more complex movements. Before we know it, we could have drones playing out a full 3D recreation of ‘Rudy’ in the sky above the stadium. Could fireworks do that?”

As colorful and imagination-provoking as fireworks are, they are limited by their chemical composition. Drones are not. What will a drone show look like in ten or twenty years? Across the globe, China set the Guinness World Record for “the largest aerial image formed by the most drones” last month: 11,787. The over 10k drones formed cities, flowers and other wonderful designs in the sky. Why not a full 3D recreation of Rudy or other movies? (Paging Boss: how many programming hours did this show need?!)

Drones have also spread to Chinese holidays, such as the Lunar New Year. The Chinese have used fireworks to celebrate for over a millennium, ranging from explosive bamboo stalks to gunpowder powered explosives. (That pales our two century tradition in comparison.) Yet because of pollution, fire hazards and waste, some Chinese are opting to celebrate in different ways. Are digital fireworks and drone light shows the next stage in pyrotechnical evolution?

With how divided our country is, I can’t wait for the Dumbocrats and Repukes to make the fireworks vs. drones question a referendum on our patriotism. Repuke argument: Are you a gun-toting, God-fearing, firework firing patriot or a sinister, environmentally whipped godless drone? Dumbocrat argument: Are you an eco-friendly, noise-sensitive techno-friendly citizen of the world or a God-worshipping, gas guzzling, pyrotechnic madman?

Maybe we can keep our firework method away from politics.

I hope so. We have so few non-political refuges left.