Street Parade 2026—what a run!
What began as a single drone mission for our clients turned out to be one of our most challenging operations of the year.
Four drone teams. Four missions. Running simultaneously. Right in the middle of the Street Parade, with over 800,000 revelers in the heart of Zurich.
Two of our teams worked nonstop on the live productions, another team produced festival content, while the fourth team captured exclusive footage of a Lovemobile and DJ sets.
The challenge lies behind the images
The Street Parade is an environment that could hardly be more challenging for professional drone operations. Hundreds of thousands of people in a confined space, multiple productions running simultaneously, different takeoff and operating areas, complex airspace, and an event area that stretches across large parts of the Lake Zurich basin.
Under such conditions, it’s not enough to simply have good pilots and professional cameras on site. What happens long before the first takeoff is crucial. That’s why preparations began several days in advance. Crews and operational schedules had to be coordinated, flight and operational areas defined, airspace divided among the teams, and procedures coordinated with clients and the relevant authorities.
Close coordination with Black Frame Studios and CH Media was particularly crucial for the live productions. When footage is fed directly from the air into an ongoing production, technical processes, positions, timing, communication, and responsibilities must all work together seamlessly. The fact that this works in such a complex environment is the result of a strong crew and professional preparation by everyone involved.
The goal was clear: Four teams had to be able to work simultaneously and independently of one another, in full compliance with the law, properly insured, and with well-planned on-site processes. On the day of the event itself, operational realities came into play: enormous crowds, sweltering heat, long distances to carry equipment, ongoing live productions, and situations that could change in a matter of moments.
For our pilots and spotters, this meant maintaining the highest level of concentration for many hours. While the pilot is responsible for the flight and the footage, the spotter constantly monitors the surroundings and the airspace and helps ensure the mission is carried out safely. At the same time, each team must remain flexible enough to respond immediately to the demands of the production at hand.
When things get complicated, experience counts
In the end, the spectacular images are just the visible result. What you don't see in them are the preparations, the coordination between the crews, the on-site communication, and the many decisions that are made during a day like this.
This is exactly where we see the difference between flying drones and professional drone production. Launching a drone and capturing good footage is only part of the job. Safely planning an operation of this scale, managing multiple teams simultaneously, and being part of a complex live production at the same time is a whole different discipline.
And productions like these can only succeed when strong partners work together.
A big thank you also goes to the teams at Black Frame Studios and CH Media for their excellent collaboration. While we were responsible for the extensive preproduction of our drone operation, the coordination of the four crews, and ensuring safe operations in the airspace, our partners played a crucial role in planning and coordinating the overall production, ensuring that all elements worked together seamlessly on location. A production of this scale can only succeed when experienced teams across all areas work closely and professionally together.
The 2026 Street Parade demonstrated what can be achieved when experience, well-coordinated crews, meticulous planning, and strong production partners come together—not under perfect conditions, but in an environment that could hardly be more challenging from an operational standpoint.
And that's exactly the kind of situation we're equipped to handle.
If you didn't get a chance to watch our live coverage on TV or on the various streaming platforms, you can look forward to the Street Parade 2026 aftermovie. It's already in the works and will be online soon.
Safety is no accident
To ensure that we are even permitted to carry out such demanding missions, we have developed a comprehensive SORA risk assessment in collaboration with the Federal Office of Civil Aviation (BAZL). Put simply, this involves analyzing such drone operations in advance and evaluating them according to clear safety criteria.
These include our aircraft, potential risks to people on the ground and other air traffic participants, as well as the question of what might happen even in the event of a technical problem. Our drones, flight procedures, and safety measures are specifically designed to minimize these risks as much as possible.
It is precisely this preparation that enables us to work professionally even in situations where standard drone operations quickly reach their limits—for example, at large-scale events with very large crowds.
For our customers, this means that behind the spectacular images lies a well-thought-out and officially approved safety plan, in which risks are not left to chance but are analyzed well before the first takeoff and reduced to an acceptable minimum.