The highly anticipated Drone Show, featuring over 20 formations of local and patriotic displays, drew thousands of people to the shorelines and on boats in Boothbay Harbor Friday night, July 17. Cheers and boat horns rang out over the harbor as each formation took shape.

The 700-drone light show, which lasted about 20 minutes and was rescheduled from Saturday to Friday due to Saturday’s weather report, was in celebration of America’s 250th bithday and was the largest in Maine thus far.

The show, put on by Wisconsin-based Northern Lights Drone Shows, was launched from the Maine Department of Marine Resources property in West Boothbay Harbor. Mark Gimbel, a business owner, Boothbay Harbor selectman and co-director of the Friends of Windjammer Days, received support from community sponsors to make the spectacle possible.

“We wanted to put on a drone show that was large and epic in nature,” Gimbel said in an earlier interview.

The show also featured recorded music from local performers, including a song by Douglas Gimbel and his band, HDR&B, as well as a live performance of the national anthem by local Suzie Edwards. Both performances were broadcast live over the harbor.

The drone show was supported by businesses and organizations including Carousel Marina, Friends of Windjammer Days, Boothbay Harbor Region Chamber of Commerce, Sherman’s Maine Coast Book Shop, Gimbel & Sons Country Store, Whale’s Tale Restaurant, and Maine Department of Marine Resources.