A drone show will be presented in Montreal and Toronto to launch the tournament

MONTREAL — The sky of Montreal should be illuminated by 500 drones, this Sunday evening, on the occasion of a drone show set up by Canada to mark the imminent departure of the National Bank Open.

Those who want to attend the performance will have to look up at the sky from the Old Port of Montreal, at the stroke of 9:15 p.m. The 12-minute show will be presented on August 4 in Toronto. The public will then be able to contemplate it from Woodbine Park.

The Tennis Canada team came up with the idea of ​​putting on a drone show after seeing this initiative at various major sporting events over the past few years.

“It’s something that we already find magnificent, first of all. Then, with the current situation, the air quality, I found it very interesting,” explains Noah Lemieux-Bernier, senior director of content and innovation at Tennis Canada.

He was looking for an event to mark the start of the National Bank Open, which will take place from August 4 to 13 in Montreal, where the women’s tournament will be presented, and from August 5 to 13 in Toronto, which will host the men’s competitions. .

“We are convinced that it will be great, and we have a team on site to record everything. These are images that, in our opinion, will circulate enormously,” says Mr. Lemieux-Bernier.

“It’s a great way to let everyone know that the city of Montreal is going to tennis from August 4 to 13,” he added. The show will be under the theme of “feel the tennis”.

During the performance, 500 drones will rise from 130 to 150 meters above sea level to form shapes and animations. The illustrations formed by the drones may have an area of ​​100 meters by 100 meters.

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“With 500 drones, we are able to reproduce a tennis rally, for example, and other types of animation,” explains Noah Lemieux-Bernier.

The drones are programmed in advance. During the performance, computers will obviously be on the take-off site, in addition to 10 people responsible for the proper functioning of the drones.

“It’s quite complicated to take off 500 drones in a city where we have an international airport, so there are a lot of steps in terms of having the federal government’s flight plan,” says Mr. Lemieux-Bernier.

To meet this challenge, Tennis Canada is working in conjunction with the Canadian Traffic Network (CTN), a Toronto-based organization, as well as Skyworx Drone Shows, headquartered in Boise, Idaho, USA.

Without wanting to specify the cost associated with these shows, Mr. Lemieux-Bernier affirmed that it is a “major project”.

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This dispatch was produced with financial assistance from the Meta Exchange and The Canadian Press for News.

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