“Unacceptable. Please revert to fireworks. A drone show is embarrassing,” an area man wrote.
The City of Wauwatosa is replacing July 4 fireworks with an “inclusive” drone show.
“The Civic Celebration Commission has decided to take our Independence Day festivities in an exciting new direction for 2025,” the city announced on its Facebook page on Oct. 25.
The city touted the “drone show” for being “environmentally friendly,” safer, “weather-resilient,” and “more inclusive.”
The city wrote:
“1. Drone Show
We’re thrilled to announce that we’ll be transitioning to a drone light show for 2025. Why?
– Environmentally friendly with no air or noise pollution
– Safer for our community by reducing fire risks and injuries
– Weather-resilient – droughts won’t impact our celebration
– More inclusive for those sensitive to loud sounds
2. Parade and Drone Show on Separate Days
To ensure we balance our public safety resources, we’ll be splitting up the parade and drone show:
Drone show: July 2nd
Parade: Held on July 4th
Hosting both events on the same day requires 35-45 officers per event, so this change helps better allocate our resources and enhance safety.”
“Splitting the events will allow our officers to provide better coverage and ensure everyone can enjoy these community celebrations safely,” Wauwatosa Police Chief James MacGillis emphasized.
The City of Wauwatosa wrote, “We’re excited to bring these changes to life and make 2025’s July 4th celebration the best one yet.”
Other Wisconsin communities have held drone shows – the Waukesha County Fair, for example – but they haven’t replaced fireworks with them. New Berlin added a drone show to its fireworks. Some communities in other states have replaced fireworks with drone shows; for example, in Florida. In 2024, Sky Elements had 35 drone shows scheduled throughout the U.S.
“Drone light shows are performed by illuminated, synchronized, and choreographed groups of drones that arrange themselves into various aerial formations. Almost any image can be recreated in the sky by a computer program that turns graphics into flight commands and communicates them to the drones,” according to Verge Aero.
Wauwatosa has hit the news before with its woke approach to holidays.
The City of Wauwatosa’s deputy city administrator previously instructed city workers that they should avoid using red and green in public spaces to celebrate Christmas. Instead, top city officials are urging them to decorate counters with purple and blue and “snow people,” what the administrator appears to be calling snow men.
Some people criticized the drone show on Facebook.
“How do the visually impaired get to participate with no sound or or smell? How are you going to include that segment of the population, since you’re talking about being inclusive?” wrote one woman.
“Unacceptable. Please revert to fireworks. A drone show is embarrassing,” a man wrote.
Others liked the idea.
A woman wrote, “I love fireworks but I’m accepting drones as a good eco friendly entertainment event….excited for this.”
