Neglect ballrooms and unhealthy espresso. PS Drone Fest (formally Palm Springs Drone Fest) was one thing else solely. Held in sunny Palm Springs, California, PS Drone Fest felt extra just like the Comedian-Con of drones than your typical drone trade convention. Positive, it was comparatively small this 12 months—however the vitality was electrical, and the potential for development is very large.
“For me, it was the flexibility to deliver the leisure a part of drone taking part in, the enjoyable a part of drone flying,” mentioned Skip Fredricks, the Emmy-nominated director and drone cinematography pioneer who orchestrated a lot of the occasion. “That’s what made it so particular.”
Watch my vlog of the occasion under:
And skim on for much more inside this fun-filled weekend…
A playground for drone followers
Palm Springs Drone Fest was not your typical drone convention. There have been no cavernous ballrooms, no limitless keynotes. As an alternative, attendees wandered from inflatable drone soccer arenas to a health club with an drone gentle present setup and outdoors to the stadium for a drone air present. It felt much less like a commerce present and extra like a competition — a convergence of artwork, sport and know-how that introduced collectively pilots, performers, children, engineers and educators.
It was the last word playground for drone followers. Whether or not you have been knowledgeable pilot, a complete beginner or a wide-eyed child clutching a controller for the primary time, there was one thing to gentle your spark.
Drone Soccer: a sport and a gateway
That sense of enjoyable was palpable all through the weekend, however nowhere extra so than in the course of the drone soccer match — a STEM-first sport the place quadcopters encased in plastic spheres smash into one another whereas racing to attain targets. Although the game has been rising in recognition in Europe and Asia, this was the primary time many within the crowd had seen it in particular person — together with myself.
Amongst those that stood out within the drone soccer space was Makayla Galler, captain of the U.S. Nationwide Drone Soccer Crew. Dominated primarily by younger racers, drone soccer — largely youth-led —wasn’t simply leisure; it was outreach. This was how we get the following era stoked about drones.
A hands-on haven
Not like a number of the extra conventional, buttoned-up drone conferences — the place you’re parked in a ballroom for hours and your solely motion is throughout a espresso break — Palm Springs Drone Fest was kinetic in each sense of the phrase. You could possibly contact the tech. Fly the drones. Speak to the individuals who constructed them. It felt alive.
I largely felt this within the rocket drone demos, the place a bunch of children (and hey, me!) may fly tiny drones. For a lot of of them, it was their first time flying a drone. I’m all the time all the way down to fly drones anytime!
Children (and myself) acquired the possibility to even placed on an indoor drone gentle present.
The situation in Palm Springs: a drone pilot’s dream
The situation didn’t damage, both. Palm Springs introduced blue skies, good temperatures and a vibrant off-hours scene. On Thursday evening earlier than Palm Springs Drone Fest started, I wandered via Palm Springs VillageFest, a buzzing avenue honest with meals distributors, artwork and native appeal. Friday morning was for mini hikes to take a look at the Desert X artwork installations. Desert X is an open-air artwork exhibit that dotted the close by panorama with surreal, large-scale works — amongst them, a mirrored fuel station that blurred the traces between atmosphere and phantasm, not in contrast to the drones themselves.
The VIP resort was an Airstream glampground, which is perhaps essentially the most on-brand drone pilot lodging I’ve ever seen.
The primary occasion of PS Drone Fest: a drone air present like no different
However the pièce de résistance at PS Drone Fest? The idea of a drone air present.
As somebody who has attended EAA AirVenture earlier than — and attends San Francisco’s Fleet Week in my very own metropolis religiously — this was a revelation. Sure, there was the out of doors nighttime drone present from SkyWorx, which dazzled as anticipated. However the air present format introduced it to the following stage.
We’re speaking orb racing that felt like Star Wars pod racing reimagined, FPV freestyle, a Promo Drone demo with dwell graphics, a DJ efficiency paired with an electrical violin, and sure, even a Jedi lightsaver stunt routine.
Fredricks, the maestro behind this spectacle, orchestrated a symphony of drone tradition that fused sport, artwork, schooling and pure showmanship.
PS Drone Fest: what’s subsequent?
Palm Springs Drone Fest was in contrast to any drone occasion I’ve attended — and I’ve been to numerous drone occasions. It was playful, revolutionary and deeply community-driven.
Massive names within the drone trade got here out to be part of it. That included Vic Moss, some of the revered names in aerial images and co-founder of the Drone Service Suppliers Alliance. There was Sharon Rossmark, founding father of Girls and Drones. Desiree Ekstein, identified within the trade as Drone Diva Desi, was there too. The listing goes on. For hobbyists and professionals alike, it was a uncommon alternative to rub shoulders with a number of the trade’s most influential figures — not in a lecture corridor, however out within the solar, distant in hand.
This might be the start of one thing big. Assume: the Comedian-Con of drones, a fan-driven, high-energy celebration of all issues unmanned and superior. PS Drone Fest showcased a brand new manner to consider how drones are launched, celebrated and shared with the general public. Because the know-how matures and curiosity broadens, this sort of format — immersive, inclusive and visually spectacular — might properly turn into the brand new commonplace for drone occasions.
Within the days forward, TheDroneGirl.com will publish unique interviews and video options from different key figures in attendance at PS Drone Fest, together with Fiona Lake, the Australian agricultural drone advocate, and Tony Reid, a drone pilot and educator who’s serving to outline what drone schooling appears like for the following era.
I’m already counting all the way down to subsequent 12 months.
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