Incline Village/Crystal Bay Visitors Bureau to host July 4th Drone Skyshow

INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. - The Washoe County Board of Commissioners has approved a Drone Skyshow for the 4th of July in lieu of fireworks for the Incline Village/Crystal Bay Vistors Bureau. The board conducted a public hearing Tuesday and voted unanimously to approve the license for the bureau.

They will be conducting a Drone Skyshow for the Fourth of July celebration in Incline Village that is high-quality, innovative, environmentally sustainable, and fire-safe.

Replacing the traditional Red, White, and Blue Fireworks show, the drone show is expected to draw 3,000 attendees to the North Lake Tahoe community. The approved license allows for traffic control and includes a community clean-up day after the event.

Previously, the North Lake Tahoe Resort Association, North Tahoe Business Association, and Tahoe City Downtown Association announced that they too will have drone light shows as part of their Independence Day celebrations in place of traditional pyrotechnic fireworks displays. Their drone light shows will take place at the Kings Beach State Recreation Area on July 3 in collaboration with the North Tahoe Business Association, and at Commons Beach in Tahoe City on July 4 in partnership with the Tahoe City Downtown Association.

South Lake Tahoe and the rest of the South Shore have scheduled the annual Lights on the Lake fireworks show on July 4.

The Incline Village event will be conducted at the baseball fields near Incline Village middle school, located at the intersection of Southwood Blvd. and Incline Way. The drones will fly above the open space adjacent to the ball fields. The drone show will be provided by Verge Aero, a company based out of Philadelphia that specializes in such events. Verge will provide 2 x 200-unit drone shows operating for up to 10 minutes and both shows will be at the same location. The show times will be approximately 9:00 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. with battery changing between shows.

The drone light shows on the California side will be coordinated by professional aerial starlight production vendor Great Lakes Drone Company. They will feature custom performances up to 15 minutes in length and choreographed to music. Both will take place over Lake Tahoe, with over 100 drones taking off from and returning to shore at the conclusion of the shows.