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South Pasadena commission weighs fireworks, drone and hybrid shows for 2026 Festival of Balloons
Summary
City staff presented the 2025 Festival of Balloons report and asked the commission to recommend a format for the 2026 evening show — fireworks, drone, or hybrid — citing wide RFP price ranges, environmental concerns and a boosted budget. Commissioners agreed to receive the report and asked for more financial and environmental analysis before recommending to council.
South Pasadena staff on Tuesday reviewed the 2025 Festival of Balloons and asked the Community Services Commission for direction on whether the 2026 evening show should be a traditional fireworks display, a drone light show, or a hybrid of both.
Deputy Director Melissa Snyder said the 2025 celebration included a parade (47 entries), a daytime party in the park, a concert that drew roughly 2,000 ticket buyers and an evening fireworks display. "At a high level, the total event expenditures is roughly $86,000 with an estimate of $2,000 in staffing," Snyder said, and staff reported that revenue tied to the fireworks show was "just under $40,000." She said the city has collected multiple RFP responses for drone and fireworks vendors.
Why it matters: The commission must balance cost, crowd experience, public safety and environmental impacts when recommending a format to City Council. Staff described RFP pricing that varied significantly: one firework proposal for a 20-minute display was about $40,000; drone proposals ranged from around $20,000 for smaller packages to roughly $108,000 for a 300-drone package, with some high-end quotes up to $150,000. Snyder also said the city increased its event budget by $75,000 this year to offer additional services.
Commissioners and members of the public raised competing priorities. Several commissioners noted the event’s long-standing role in South Pasadena culture and cautioned that tradition and ticket revenue could be affected by a format change. Others, and an earlier recommendation from the Natural Resources and Environmental Commission, favored drones for their lower air-pollution profile. In public comment Tucker Nelson said, "I'm against fireworks," citing air pollution, noise, and wildfire risk.
Staff outlined operational tradeoffs: drone shows typically require more complex animations (cited as 10–20 animations depending on vendor), sound synchronization and different flight logistics than fireworks. Hybrid options would generally require hiring both a drone vendor and a firework vendor or paying a customized quote that integrates pyro with drones.
What happens next: The commission voted to receive and file the staff report and asked staff and a subcommittee to gather further details on RFQ pricing, environmental impacts and ticketing implications. Snyder and staff said they can move the item to the commission’s February meeting or schedule a special meeting if the subcommittee needs more time. The final show format would be recommended to City Council, which will make the ultimate decision and finalize contracts.
