Silverwood set to 'light up the night'

ATHOL — Silverwood Theme Park will give its visitors yet another memory starting in 2020.

"Light up the Night," a nightly drone light show, will include more than 300 drones floating around the evening sky above the pine trees behind the park.

The 20-minute show will begin around 10 p.m., weather permitting. It will provide a lasting memory before guests leave the park, said Jordan Carter, marketing director.

"We wanted to create something that was unique," Carter said. "A nightly show is something that many theme parks currently have, but we will be one of the first, if not the first, to have a nightly drone light show. We are going to have three different variations of the show so guests can come back and hopefully not see the same show twice."

Silverwood will put on a special patriotic-themed show on the Fourth of July.

The drones will take off on a runway in front of the Main Street Lawn beginning when Boulder Beach opens in June.

"There will be five operators on the ground at all times, supervising the show," Carter said. "The drones fly and create the formations via a computer software program. The operators will be there to make sure the drones are functioning properly during the show."

Visitors can sit, stand or lay on the lawn to take in the view as the drones create formations in the sky.

Carter said the cost to launch the show, including the drones, programming and sound enhancements, will be more than $100,000.

The Drone Light Show Co. in Los Angeles is programming a custom show for Silverwood.

"They will transfer the drones up to us next spring and train our drone-tech team the basics of the computer software and safety of the show," Carter said. "They will then fly the drones on opening night with our tech team supervising. The next night they will start to hand controls off to our team as we take over the show."