Intel celebrated this year’s Pride Month with a 300-drone light show, with the aim of honoring its LGBTQ employees and the community at large. For Intel, which has been recognized by the Guinness World Records for its synchronized drone light shows and recently provided TIME magazine with a singular drone-captured cover, the UAV-centric approach here certainly made sense.
The event took place Tuesday night in Folsom, California airspace, which only a few weeks ago was host to Intel’s efforts of producing a floating TIME magazine cover in the night’s sky. This particular light show, of course, highlighted the iconography and symbols of the LGBTQ community, with 300 synchronized Shooting Star drones that illustrated Pride flags, same-sex symbols, and personalized shapes targeted at two LGBTQ couples working at Intel as a surprise.
Naturally, light shows are meant to be seen, not meticulously described, so, take a look below at Intel’s work in Folsom and consider how cathartic a drone light show must be when it’s focused on celebrating love, and supporting your fellow human beings.
As for Intel’s history in the LGBTQ community, the company launched the Intel Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Allied Employee Resource Group (IGLOBE) more than 20 years ago, providing employees with domestic partner health benefits, gender IDs, and all-gender restrooms. When it comes to tech companies, Intel seems like one that actually made an effort to alleviate the community’s struggles early on, instead of jumping on a potentially superficial bandwagon.
Drone light shows have become a major attraction to organizations and corporations hoping to make a big splash at media events, concerts, and cultural celebrations. In February, the city of Xi’an celebrated the Chinese New Year with 300 drones displaying culturally relevant iconography. Singapore celebrated its 52nd birthday with 300 unmanned aerial vehicles last year. Even major Hollywood movie studios are using drones to promote their films these days. It’s pretty safe to say that we’ll be seeing a lot more of these aerial displays of talent and innovation in the future, with the list of entities interested in employing them only expanding by the day.