For the first time in its 26-year history, the Lyon Festival of Lights hosted a drone show.
From December 5 to 8, 2025, Allumee presented a poetic tableau with its show L'Éveil des Lumières, an aerial ballet of 500 drones performed above the lake in the Parc de la Tête d'Or.
An artistic creation at the service of technology
The Awakening of Lights is an 8-minute journey retracing the history of light in all its forms.
A show conceived by Pierre Gruner, artistic director, and his team of 8 artists.
Each scene has been carefully designed to awaken the senses and emotions.
The 500 points of light transforming in turn into swirling galaxies, flickering flames, all synchronized to a musical soundtrack by Disjoint Square, amplifying the audience's immersion in this innovative show.
Among the most striking scenes were the depiction of the votive candles placed in windows every December 8th, and the appearance of a three-dimensional reconstruction of the Fourvière Basilica. This personalization of the heritage particularly resonated with the people of Lyon.
An additional magical effect: the drones are synchronized using an organic effect, mimicking the flight of birds in a flock. Meticulous and daring work for a result that is completely unprecedented in France.
An unprecedented technical feat
The gamble was audacious: to perform nine shows per evening with only 30 minutes between each performance.« A major technical and operational challenge «" revealed Xavier Chauchard, our sales director, during the official press conference of the Festival of Lights.
To ensure the success of the operation, Clément Petit, our operational director, and his team put in place an exceptional protocol.
On site, around thirty staff members were mobilized for the event, including the two drone pilots who took turns managing the nearly 40 successive flights over four evenings.
The operational base was set up on Souvenir Island, in the heart of the lake, providing a strategic control point for the teams, and allowing optimal supervision of the entire aerial ballet.
On the ground between each performance, a second ballet took place with the same meticulousness: recharging batteries, checking the IO Star 3 Drotek drones, loading the “dance” and preparing the next flight… in just a few minutes!
The figures behind this exceptional operation represent a record:
- 500 drones deployed every 30 minutes
- Nearly 40 performances
- More than 6 hours of cumulative drone flight time
- More than 60 professionals mobilized
- More than 200,000 amazed spectators
Public and media recognition
The public has overwhelmingly endorsed this technological innovation.
The enthusiasm was such that on some evenings the queue sometimes stretched on for more than 2 hours!
More than 200,000 spectators came to admire it, that is, more than 50,000 per night.
The show generated exceptional media coverage: France 3, BFM TV, Le Progrès, Radio Scoop, and around fifty national and regional media outlets devoted reports to this premiere.
On December 4, at the first performance for elected officials, patrons and some 50 journalists present, the reactions on site were able to testify to the impact of the show.
France Info mentioned "« a shower of stars and, for a moment, the feeling of being at the center of the world« .
Lyon Capitale described the show as 'The work that undoubtedly generated the most discussion over the weekend in Lyon« .
At the Trophée des Lumières, L'Éveil des Lumières received 17 % of the votes, ranking second among the favorite works, just behind Les Malles Persanes (23 %).
Five years of perseverance
This historic participation is the culmination of five years of efforts to convince the City of Lyon.« Lyon has become my city, so it was obvious that I wanted to include Allumee in the history of the Festival of Lights.«,” confided Édouard Ferrari, our CEO, to Light Zoom Lumière.
Julien Pavillard, director of the Festival of Lights, challenged the team creatively, pushing us to go beyond a simple technological demonstration to create a true work of art.
Mission accomplished.
