Shell Cove has been chosen for a drone light show on New Year’s Eve. Photo: Envato @wirestock.
Shellharbour City Council has voted to press ahead with a pet‑friendly New Year’s Eve drone show at Shell Cove Harbour this year, despite concerns sparked by technical failures at Sydney’s Vivid festival this week.
At a recent meeting, the motion was passed seven to one for the 31 December event to be added to the city’s events calendar, with a postponement option at Reddall Reserve on Australia Day if the 500-plus drone light show over Shellharbour South Beach can’t safely fly at 9 pm due to adverse weather.
Council staff will also continue chasing sponsorships and grants to further drive down the cost to ratepayers for the event.
Councillor Rob Petreski voted against it after citing failures during multiple drone shows at Vivid, including 89 drones falling out of the sky the night prior to the meeting.
Deputy Mayor Kellie Marsh said the event was the type of “modern, family-friendly community event” that brought people together and showcased Shellharbour as a “vibrant destination”.
“A drone show is innovative, environmentally considerate compared to traditional fireworks, and creates a safe and exciting experience for families, children, and visitors of all ages,” Cr Marsh said.
“It also supports local businesses, restaurants, and tourism operators by drawing people into the area and encouraging them to stay and spend locally.”
She thanked early support from businesses and sponsors for the event, attracting $142,000 so far.
“Their backing shows real confidence in our community and a willingness to invest in events that bring people together and create positive experiences for local families and visitors,” she said.
“Importantly, even if, for some reason, the drones were unable to fly on New Year’s Eve at the marina, the New Year’s Eve celebrations themselves would still continue, families would still come together, businesses would still benefit, and the community atmosphere would still be there.
“The postponement option linked to Australia Day at Reddall Reserve is practical and responsible planning, rather than risking the community missing out entirely.”
However, councillor Rob Petreski said while he was a fan of drones, he used the recent Vivid Sydney 2026 drone program as a cautionary tale, noting that of the eight scheduled shows in the first week, only one went ahead as planned.
“If anyone heard any news headlines throughout the day, they all had the Vivid drone show highlighted in their reports,” he said.
“Drones lost signal and fell, triggering a shutdown of the event.
“The program has been heavily disrupted by weather, initially, and then followed by significant technical failure and ongoing safety review.”
He said while the council report highlighted the weather risks, it was “overly favourable” and didn’t take into account the technical risks.
“The overall New Year’s Eve drone show assessment, with the context of Vivid, shows that the report is well structured and it’s risk aware, but Vivid highlights that very real world drone events are more fragile than the planning assumptions suggest, particularly around the technical failure, weather vulnerability and reputational risk,” he said.
“A drone show would be fantastic, but I’m just still not sure that the technology has caught up with our desire.”
In reply, Cr Marsh said Shellharbour’s chosen supplier was different from the operator used for Vivid.
“The drone issues they had in Sydney were from an international company, a UK company,” she said.
“The company we’re looking at employing here is Australian-based. They have not had any incidents at all with any of their drones, so they have a very, very good record.”
Councillor Craig Ridding supported the event being as close to cost-neutral as possible, sharing resident feedback about holding three major events within 60 days – carols, Australia Day and now New Year’s Eve.
He also raised concerns about traffic jams for Shell Cove residents.
Staff said they were working with local clubs for a “dine and drop” system, where people could catch buses or walk from nearby venues, and with service groups to provide traffic control.
Councillor John Davey backed the move, believing it was an opportunity to showcase the marina.
“The Shell Cove Marina project has been 25 years-plus in the making,” Cr Davey said.
“It’s a $3.4 billion development, the largest joint venture in local government and private enterprise in Australian history.”
He said council was now expecting more than $150 million in dividends from the project and described the drone show’s price tag as “minuscule” in that context.
“We haven’t done anything to celebrate this successful and magnificent achievement from our council,” he said.
“This will bring economic value into the marina. It’ll get the marina recognition, which is long overdue.”
Further details about the event, including programming and logistics, will be shared with the community in coming months.
