Goleta Independence Day Drone Show!

Goleta took a big Independence Day gamble and decided to do a drone show instead of traditional fireworks. I would say that overall it was a great success.

Here are my photos. Here are my videos.

The drone show was scheduled to start around 9PM at Dos Pueblos High School. But the organizers encouraged people to arrive early. Part of the encouragement included food trucks, games and line dancing before the main event. Merlie and I took the free shuttle bus from Costco at 6PM.

Here was a panoramic view of how things looked at the stadium by 7PM. Definitely filling up. By the time of the drone show it was completely packed on the ground and in the bleachers.

DJ Darla Bea was spinning tunes and acting as event announcer. She took a moment to pause in her very fashionably appropriate Independence Day outfit!

Line dancing was a big thing. Starting with some performances and then getting the crowd involved with a big group lesson. Here the energetic and enthusiastic instructor was airborne!

Here is my video of some of the lesson with the happy students.

People also lined up for a variety of games.

And bubble blowing. This young lady was really mastering the bubble blowing art!

We met up with quite a few friends. Here we sat with our neighbor friends Eric and Aom.

Gary Horowitz is a professor at UCSB Physics who often very kindly takes the time to explain the Physics Colloquium talks to me that I find particularly baffling! I actually went to high school and to MIT with his younger brother Mark. Small world! Gary brought his granddaughters who were visiting from Cincinnati. Another small world coincidence: We were just there with Merlie’s sister who lives nearby in Kentucky. Gary’s wife Corinne is more visible in the community as the organizer of Friends of the Goleta Library, but she skipped this event.

Mallika used to be a regular on my hikes until she moved to the Bay Area. She came back to Santa Barbara recently and here she was with her adorable daughter Millie.

The full Goleta City Council was on hand: Mayor Paula Perotte, Mayor Pro Tempore Stuart Kasdin and Council Members Luz Reyes-Martín, James Kyriaco and Jennifer Smith.

And I was impressed that our Congressional Representative Salud Carbajal also took to the stage as it got close to show time. He has a large district, so it was quite an honor that he came to our Goleta show!

And finally at 9:08PM it was deemed dark enough for the drones to lift off from the staging area and take to the sky! For the next thirteen minutes we were awed by a series of perfectly choreographed patterns in the sky. With smooth transitions in between. Here is my full video.

And here are some highlight images.

Our flag.

This clean image…

Dissolved…

And became this new image of a bird flapping its wings.

Statue of Liberty.

Liberty Bell.

I should note that Merlie and I got to see both of these up close for real during our recent big road trip.

And you are here.

Surfing.

But watch out for sharks.

Some very personalized displays for Dos Pueblos High School, UCSB Gauchos, Goleta and more.

The Monarch Butterfly is our Goleta symbol.

At 9:21 it was all over and perhaps 5,000 people had to find their way out. As I say, the event mostly was well organized. But getting out was a challenge as they forced everyone out of one exit area.

We realized the shuttle bus would be stuck in traffic with thousands of cars. We did not see anyone directing traffic to expedite the buses or the other traffic. We opted to walk the two miles back to Costco with our neighbor friends Eric and Aom. It turned out to be faster.

It would have been a much shorter walk for us and hundreds of other people if they had let us exit directly from the stadium toward the ocean side of the campus.

Again, overall, it was an enjoyable and creative event and I hope it will happen again. Perhaps things can be tweaked a bit to make it even better next time!

– Robert Bernstein