A quieter but high-flying Fourth of July light show in Goleta is taking form, as the city has received pledges from sponsors toward a drone show at Dos Pueblos High School. Last month the city accepted $25,000 from Yardi Systems toward the show, and six more sponsors have put $18,500 toward the $50,000 total cost. The City Council gave the go-ahead for the event on Tuesday.
The roughly 14-minute show consisting of 150 drones flying up to 400 feet in the air is being created by Droneshow.com of St. George, Utah. The high school stadium will host food trucks, tunes by DJ Darla Bea, a dance floor, as well as the choreographed light show, said the city’s community relations manager, Kelly Hoover. The show could be visible as much as 7-10 miles away, if the night is clear.
Additional expenses of about $26,500 remain to be funded for the show and the ancillary entertainment and services, security, cleanup, and promotion. Already, Teledyne Flir, Deckers, Goleta Historical Society, MarBorg, Community West Bank, and Santa Barbara Airbus have contributed. Hoover said city staff continued to fundraise, but also identified areas of the budget that could fund the remainder.
Hoover recounted that the city’s fireworks shows in the past had been organized by Goleta Rotary, first taking place at UC Santa Barbara’s stadium before moving to Girsh Park, where COVID concerns ended the show in 2020…