Ohio’s North Ridgeville Last weekend, Lorain County’s first drone light show, including 100 dancing drones ready to decorate the night sky, was set to make history at the 50th Annual Corn Festival. However, things didn’t exactly proceed as expected.
Many viewers were left perplexed as they peered through tree branches and engaged in guessing games regarding the show above, rather than being treated to a picture-perfect display of synchronized shapes.
The issues began early. In order to access the show’s music, attendees frantically searched for the QR code. Then, an unusual technical issue grounded a large number of the drones shortly before the event started. When the others took off, they did so from a location that was not visible from where the crowd had been instructed to assemble, and trees obscured a large portion of the show.
The incident was promptly addressed by the festival organizers. The following day, they shared a press release from Starlight Aerial Productions and an apology on Facebook.
The business clarified that almost half of the drones were disabled just before takeoff due to a technical issue, something they claim hasn’t occurred in any of their 200 events this year. They emphasized that they were at blame, not the city or the event organizers, and that they were working on a solution, which might include giving the city a complete refund.
Some saw it as simply the rocky beginning that comes with trying something new. In the case of others, the exhibition left them with more questions than pictures.
According to Heather Maldonado, who has been going to the festival with her family for 40 years, hundreds of people fled across the street in search of a better view during the mid-show exodus caused by the location confusion.
According to Maldonado, we were informed that the drone show would take place above the gazebo, but it was actually in a field across the street, behind trees, and half of the drones weren’t operational.
There was a subplot centered around the search for the QR code that enabled guests to sync their phones with the show’s music. Suzie Soeder searched booth after booth and even the sound operator for almost an hour without finding it.
Many people replied that they were also looking for the elusive black-and-white square when she asked on Facebook whether anyone had a picture of the code. She eventually located it at the booth for Amish Corn and posted the code online.
According to Soeder, no one would have had the QR code if I hadn’t been looking for it.
She jokingly said that the experience was the Temu equivalent of a drone show, technically fulfilling your order but falling short of your expectations. Despite this, she is still excited to watch the entire fleet soar.
Instead of a refund, she wants a redo.
The time didn’t always coincide, even for those with the code. According to Jasmine Barczyk, she was dubious of what she was seeing when a dinosaur shape (see the above photo) appeared out of time with the Jurassic Park theme song.
Barczyk had never been to a drone exhibition before, but she was looking forward to her first experience on Friday night after seeing some incredible images. Like many others, trees partially obscured her view; in fact, it wasn’t until halfway through that she saw a sizable portion of the drones hadn’t taken off.
In order to observe the drone display, Genevieve Flieger stayed at the Corn Festival longer than she had planned to. After ten minutes, she finally departed.
The Corn Festival’s marketing provided the incorrect address. Flieger told Cleveland.com that if you sat where they stated the show would be, you wouldn’t be able to see it.
She was happy to see Corn Festival try something different than fireworks, though. She claimed that even while she enjoys the sight and sound of fireworks, she has grown to feel that the enjoyment isn’t worth the expense as she has learned more about the harm they can cause.
According to Flieger, explosions might cause birds to panic and crash. House pets may run away or get struck by cars, veterans may experience PTSD episodes, or bees may become so lost that they are unable to find their way back to the colony.
However, not everyone had grievances when they departed. According to Bryan Nass, who spoke to Cleveland.com, the drone show disaster serves as a lesson that some things are just beyond the organizers’ control. He asked people to be understanding and, even better, to contribute if they wanted to help make the festival great the following year.
According to Nass, leadership is difficult. It’s challenging to make anything for the community, and I appreciate everything they do.
