“Attention, Walmart shoppers – check out the drone light show.”

Retail giant Walmart is launching a holiday drone light show in eight store locations throughout December.

The event, described by a press release as a “magical experience that brings the joy and wonder of the holiday season to the skies,” will also be live-streamed and will feature a holiday-themed soundtrack.

The drone light show will feature nearly 1,000 drones launched by Intel. “This year’s holiday season feels like it needs more than the standard set of lights. Instead, think drones,” a Walmart spokesperson said.

“The light show creates three-dimensional seasonal shapes and characters, like snowflakes, reindeer, snowmen and holiday presents, choreographed to a soundtrack of classic and modern holiday favorites, from Frosty the Snowman by Bing Crosby to Run, Run Rudolph by Kelly Clarkson.”

“After a particularly tough year, we want to help families end the year looking up. We want customers and communities to enjoy a moment of rest, peace and hope,” William White, chief marketing officer at Walmart, said. “From our summer movie drive-in to our Fall gameday and Halloween experiences, we’ve been finding ways to help families enjoy seasonal traditions in a year when they thought it might not be possible.”

Scheduled Shows

• Fri., Dec. 4: Kansas City, Kansas at Kansas Speedway
• Sat., Dec. 5: Dallas, Texas at the Cotton Bowl
• Wed., Dec. 9: San Antonio, Texas at Six Flags Fiesta Texas
• Thurs., Dec. 10: Doswell, Virginia at Kings Dominion
• Sun., Dec. 13: Phoenix, Arizona at Phoenix Raceway
• Wed., Dec. 16: Charlotte, North Carolina at Carowinds
• Fri., Dec. 18: Sacramento, California at Sleep Train Arena
• Sun., Dec. 20: Fayetteville, Arkansas at 112 Drive-In

Registration for free tickets to the drone light show will start Nov. 23 at 5 p.m. ET at www.WalmartDroneShow.com. Attendees will watch the show from the safety of their own car or a designated, socially-distant viewing area. The live stream will broadcast on Dec. 5 at 7:40 pm ET at Walmart’s Facebook, Instagram and TikTok channels

Can a drone light show replace fireworks?

Entertainment companies are beginning to recognize drone light shows as a safer alternative to traditional pyrotechnics.

A drone light show featuring 200 illuminated, GPS-guided drones capped President-elect Joe Biden’s Nov. 7 victory speech.

AO Drones launched an aerial light drone show over Munich’s Olympic Park last month to kick off the launch of Deutsche Telekom’s 5G network.

In June, AO Drones found a unique way to say “Thank You” from above to Dubai’s COVID workers for their heroism during the pandemic. The event included a drone-based light show as well as an aerial film depicting emergency vehicles arranged on the ground to spell out “Thank You” in English and Arabic. Since then, the film has blown up on social media.

In January, Verge Aero produced a drone light show in Mexico. Working with partner Sky Precision, the company launched an array of 150 drone-mounted lights, creating dancing, multi-color images in the sky during the Festival Internacional del Globo hot-air balloon festival to celebrate Día de Muertos.

In 2018, Travis Air Force Base replaced its traditional fireworks display with a drone light show presented by Intel.