Drone Show Guinness World Records 2026: 71,207 Drones in a Week in Texas and 33,615 Flown Simultaneously in Sichuan

Drone shows, which use drones as points of light to draw pictures and words in the night sky, continued to earn Guinness World Records titles in 2026. In Texas, Aerial Illuminations Drone Shows and UVify in March–April, and Sky Elements Drone Shows and Damoda America in September, successively broke the record for “most drones launched in a week.” In Sichuan, China, a record for flying 33,615 drones simultaneously was certified in May, and in Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a phoenix drawn by drones at the celebration welcoming 2026 became a record. Based on Guinness World Records’ record pages and official news, as well as announcements by organizers and operators, this article reviews the main drone show records set from the New Year’s celebration welcoming 2026 through October, and how certification works.

Drone show records are divided not only by the number of drones flown at once but also by the type of shape drawn (logos, QR codes, words, mythical creatures and so on) and by the total number of drones over a week. The same record can be broken twice in a single year, as the 2026 “week” record shows. In Japan, some 2026 subsidy calls include drone shows among eligible projects, as noted in our article on subsidies for illuminations and projection mapping. The relationship between light shows and Guinness World Records, including the certification of the projection mapping on the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, is covered in our article on projection mapping Guinness World Records.

Spring in Texas: Five records over nine days before Easter

According to official news published by Guinness World Records on August 13, 2026, US companies Aerial Illuminations Drone Shows and UVify staged drone shows over nine days at “The Field on MastersRoad” in Manvel, Texas, ahead of Easter. The largest performance was on March 31. On its official website, Aerial Illuminations says it earned five records in a single show using 10,000 drones. The records and drone counts listed in the Guinness article are as follows.

• Largest flying LED screen formed by multirotor/drones: 9,969 drones

• Largest aerial logo formed by multirotors/drones: 9,985 drones

• Largest multirotor/drone QR code formation: 9,370 drones

• Largest aerial word formed by multirotors/drones: 9,975 drones (the word “JESUS”)

• Most multirotors/drones launched in a week: 66,123 drones

The fifth record, for a week, was achieved over the performances from March 27 to April 1. The Guinness article gives the previous record as 21,000 drones flown in a week by NOOR Riyadh in Saudi Arabia in December 2023. According to the article, about 100 staff worked on site, and the drones and equipment were worth about $25 million. Aerial Illuminations gathered the rest of the fleet from across the United States with the help of the manufacturer.

Guinness World Records adjudicator Andy Glass was present on site and announced the records after completing final checks. Glass said that moving nearly 10,000 drones into multiple formations in a single show is no easy feat and that the team pulled it off well. Aerial Illuminations’ official website lists daily drone counts, from 5,000 on the first day to 10,000 on the ninth (600 on the fifth day’s “prayer night”).

Autumn in Texas: Sky Elements launches 71,207 drones in a week

Six months later, the same “week” record was broken by Sky Elements Drone Shows, which describes itself as the largest drone light show company in the United States. According to the company’s October 2, 2026 announcement (PR Newswire), it teamed up with Damoda America to fly six 10,000-drone shows and one 11,000-drone show in Blue Ridge, Texas, from September 27 to 29. The number of drones launched in the week was 71,207, and the Guinness record page lists this figure as the record.

According to news Guinness published on October 6, the first show was on September 27, and five shows were successfully flown on the final night. The article puts each performance at about 10,200 drones and reports that the drones took off from and returned to the same cases, where they could also be recharged. Damoda also brought in technicians from Shenzhen, China. Adjudicator Michael Empric, who was present, said that given the weather and the scale of 10,000 drones, it was one of the most difficult drone attempts he had judged.

On September 28, the team also drew a dragon in blue lightning colors with 10,183 drones, earning the record for “Largest aerial display of a mythical creature formed by multirotors/drones.” The previous record was the 2,247 drones in Ras Al Khaimah, described below. Sky Elements says the two records are its 18th and 19th world records. It also describes the 11,000-drone performance as the largest drone show ever in the United States, and CEO Rick Boss said shows of this scale had previously taken place in Asia and the Middle East.

Note that the Guinness article from October and the Sky Elements announcement give the previous “week” record as 55,939 drones by Aerial Illuminations and UVify, which does not match the 66,123 stated in the August Guinness article.

Sichuan, China: 33,615 drones flown simultaneously

The record for the most drones flown at once was set in China in May 2026. According to the Guinness record page, the record for “Most remote controlled multirotors/drones airborne simultaneously” is 33,615 drones, achieved on May 20 in Dujiangyan, Sichuan Province, by three Chinese companies: Yufengzhe Technology (Suzhou), Wind’s Shore Technology (Yibin) and Chengdu Century Chengmei Technology. That is about three times the 11,000 drones Sky Elements calls the largest in the United States.

On the same day, the same three companies also set the record for “Largest aerial image formed by multirotors/drones” with 33,605 drones. According to the record page, the performance took “technology and humanity” as its theme, combining Eastern tradition with modern science. It opened with a scene of the Chinese constellations known as the Twenty-Eight Mansions lighting up, followed by a panda photographing the sky. The record page explains that drone formation technology has progressed over the past decade from demonstrations of around 1,000 drones to swarms of 30,000-plus.

In February, in Hefei, Anhui Province, Guangdong EHang Egret Media Technology set the record for “Most multirotor/drones airborne simultaneously from a single computer (outdoors)” with 22,580 drones. According to the record page, the company earned a Guinness World Records title in Xi’an in 2018 using just over 1,000 drones.

New Year’s in the UAE: Ras Al Khaimah’s phoenix

A record was set in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE, at the New Year’s celebration welcoming 2026. According to an announcement dated January 1, 2026, by the Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority (RAKTDA), 2,300 drones drew a phoenix in a 15-minute show of drones and fireworks. Of these, 1,000 were “pyro drones” carrying fireworks. Fireworks were also launched along a 6 km stretch from Al Marjan Island to Al Hamra.

The tourism authority announced the record title as “Largest aerial display of a phoenix formed by multirotors/drones.” The October Guinness article, however, treats it as the “mythical creature” record and states that the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah and RAKTDA achieved it with 2,247 drones on December 31, 2025. The 2,300 drones announced by the tourism authority and the 2,247 recorded by Guinness do not match. As noted above, the record was broken by Sky Elements with 10,183 drones in September 2026.

According to a case study by SKYMAGIC, which produced the show, it was the company’s third time handling the New Year’s celebration on Al Marjan Island. The 1,000 pyro drones carried a total of 2,000 fireworks, and 40 of the company’s laser drones were also used. Phillipa Harrison, CEO of the tourism authority, said New Year’s Eve in Ras Al Khaimah is an event that brings people together.

At the same New Year’s celebration, the Sheikh Zayed Festival in Abu Dhabi also earned Guinness World Records titles for fireworks. According to the record pages, dated January 1, 2026, it was certified for the “Longest continuous firework show” at 62 minutes 18 seconds, “Most thunder fireworks launched in 30 seconds” at 20,800 and “Most ring fireworks launched in 30 seconds” at 2,160. These are fireworks records, not drone records.

How certification works: Rules for each title and review of evidence

Guinness World Records lists six conditions for recognizing a record: it must be objectively measurable, breakable by others, open to anyone under the same rules, verifiable with clear evidence, based on a single variable, and better than the existing record.

Each record has its own rules (guidelines) that specify how it is measured and what evidence must be submitted. For example, “most drones launched in a week” is measured by the number of individual drones launched within one week. Eligible aircraft are electric rotorcraft weighing 20 kg or less; fixed-wing unmanned aircraft are not allowed.

According to Guinness, for most records the challenger uploads evidence, which the records management team reviews and approves. Every attempt requires at least two witnesses, and a cover letter summarizing the attempt must be submitted for all records. Challengers can also invite an official adjudicator to the site; on the day, the adjudicator reviews the guidelines, witnesses the attempt, verifies the measurements and evidence on the spot and announces the result, presenting an official certificate if the attempt succeeds. Having an adjudicator present is a paid service; the FAQ states that official adjudicators and similar services are available only through its paid consultancy services.

According to the same FAQ, self-service applications can take up to 20 weeks to receive a response, and the expedited “Priority Application” is temporarily unavailable. For both 2026 attempts in Texas, an official adjudicator was present on site: Glass verified the records in spring and Empric in autumn.

Main records of 2026 at a glance

• December 31, 2025, Ras Al Khaimah, UAE: Largest aerial display of a mythical creature formed by multirotors/drones, 2,247 drones (Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, RAKTDA; broken in September 2026)

• February 2026, Hefei, Anhui Province, China: Most multirotor/drones airborne simultaneously from a single computer (outdoors), 22,580 drones (Guangdong EHang Egret Media Technology)

• March–April 2026, Manvel, Texas, USA: Flying LED screen, 9,969 drones; aerial logo, 9,985; QR code, 9,370; aerial word, 9,975; most drones launched in a week, 66,123 (Aerial Illuminations Drone Shows, UVify; counts from the August Guinness article; the week record was broken in September)

• May 20, 2026, Dujiangyan, Sichuan Province, China: Most remote controlled multirotors/drones airborne simultaneously, 33,615 drones; largest aerial image formed by multirotors/drones, 33,605 (three Chinese companies including Yufengzhe Technology (Suzhou))

• September 2026, Blue Ridge, Texas, USA: Most drones launched in a week, 71,207 drones; largest aerial display of a mythical creature formed by multirotors/drones, 10,183 (Sky Elements Drone Shows, Damoda America)

*Some record titles are abbreviated. Drone counts and dates are from Guinness World Records’ record pages and official news.

Editor’s perspective

Lining up the 2026 records shows that drone show records are splitting in two directions: the scale of a single show and the operation of repeated flights. In drones flown at once, China’s 33,615 reached about three times the 11,000 that Sky Elements calls the largest in the United States. The two Texas attempts, by contrast, competed on the total number of drones over a week. In spring, the team staged nine consecutive days of shows; in autumn, seven shows over three days, with five on the final night alone. Having drones take off from and return to the same cases, where they can also recharge, can be seen as a way to shorten the interval between performances.

The fine division of record titles by shape corresponds to one of Guinness’s conditions: that a record be based on a single variable. In spring in Texas, Aerial Illuminations says it earned five records in a single show, and the sequence of segments, an LED screen, a logo, a QR code and a word, translated directly into the number of records. Records are also tied to events. The Ras Al Khaimah record was attempted by the tourism authority at its New Year’s celebration, and the spring Texas records came from shows timed for Easter. The relationship between night events and policy in Japan is covered in our article on the nighttime economy. Drone segments are also being added to light festivals: Lyon’s Fête des Lumières held its first drone show in 2025, and GLOW Eindhoven in the Netherlands will stage the city’s first drone work in November 2026.

The figures need careful handling. The previous “week” record is given as 66,123 drones in the August Guinness article but 55,939 in the October article and the Sky Elements announcement. For Ras Al Khaimah, too, the tourism authority announced 2,300 drones, while the Guinness article says 2,247. In some cases, the date field on a record page differs from the achievement date given in the text. When citing records, it is best to check both the text of the record page and the organizer’s announcement.

Frequently asked questions

What is the world record for drones flown simultaneously?

According to the Guinness World Records record page, it is 33,615 drones, achieved on May 20, 2026, in Dujiangyan, Sichuan Province, China, by three Chinese companies including Yufengzhe Technology (Suzhou).

How is “most drones launched in a week” counted?

It is measured by the number of individual drones launched within one week. Eligible aircraft are electric rotorcraft weighing 20 kg or less; fixed-wing unmanned aircraft are not allowed. As of October 25, the record is 71,207 drones by Sky Elements Drone Shows and Damoda America.

Is an official Guinness World Records adjudicator always present?

No. According to Guinness, for most records the challenger submits evidence, which the records management team reviews. Having an official adjudicator present is a paid service; the adjudicator announces the result on the spot and presents a certificate if the attempt succeeds.

Upcoming shows in Japan are listed in our roundup of upcoming drone shows in Japan, and costs and Civil Aeronautics Act procedures for organizers are covered in our article on drone show costs, permits and approvals.

*Information as of October 25, 2026. Please check official websites for the latest information.

*Top image: The blue dragon drawn by drones of Sky Elements Drone Shows and Damoda America (from Guinness World Records’ official news)

*This article was compiled by the TOKYO ART SPHERE editorial team based on Guinness World Records’ record pages and official news, and official announcements and public materials from Sky Elements, the Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority, SKYMAGIC and Aerial Illuminations (as of October 25, 2026).

Text: TOKYO ART SPHERE Editorial Team