The winners of the 2nd International Drone Show Competition, initiated by SPH Engineering‘s Drone Show Software (DSS) team, have been announced.

A total of 214 registered participants from 104 countries competed in one or more of six categories, and the entries were evaluated by a jury panel composed of European, North and Latin American and Asian drone show professionals, 3D animators and experienced entrepreneurs.

According to a press release, the concept of the competition in 2021 turned into a multidisciplinary contest of both animations and shows performed by real drones. The task was to submit a project video in a selected category. Winners by category are:

• ‘Best drone show 3D animation’: Nacho Cruje (Spain)
• ‘Best integrated drone show’: CELESTIAL (the UK)
• ‘Best drone show business promo video’: Grizzly Entertainment (Cyprus)
• ‘Best show up to 100 drones’: Flock Drone Art (Spain)
• ‘Best show up to 1000 drones’: Taiwan Drone 100 (Taiwan)
• ‘Best show over 1000 drones’: Andrei Golenev (with the performance by Geoscan Drone Show from Russia)

In addition to the main winners the following participants will be granted special prizes: Vincent Bauer (France), DRONE SHOW EUROPE (Czech Republic), Stellar Lights (Australia), and Geoscan Drone Show (Russia).

According to Angelito D. Jadormeo, a winner of the 2020 competition and a member of the jury panel in 2021, “The second competition is way better than the first I think, because it has created more categories exhibiting a greater application for the technology.”

The jury consisted of 10 people and scored each submission from one to 10 evaluating both creative and technical elements. “It is exciting to observe how this competition is becoming a global platform to unite various expertise in these shows: from animation to business promo videos, from small scale shows up to 100 drones, to integrated and large scale shows. The number of participating countries doubled in comparison to 2020, while the youngest participant this year was only 14 years old. Keeping in mind the diversity and complexity of submissions, we have selected six winners as planned and added a few special prizes,” said Alexey Dobrovolskiy, CTO at SPH Engineering.

Winners will enjoy specially developed drone show operator kits, will be granted diplomas and included in the event promo campaign.

The competition was established to bring together the best representatives, their shows, animations, and business approaches to exchange knowledge about breakthrough sustainable technologies for outdoor light events. The goal is to keep building up a community of like-minded people passionate about drones and modern art, SPH Engineering said.

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Photo – top of page – Ian Baldwin / Unsplash