ASU Students Design 100-Drone Light Show for Mesa's Holiday Event
Arizona State University students designed a 100-drone show for a city holiday event in Mesa, USA. Pulse Drone Light Shows produced it, launching a partnership between the city, the university and the company.
Students at Arizona State University (ASU) storyboarded and designed a 100-drone light show for the City of Mesa's Merry Main Street holiday celebration, held on November 28, 2025, in Mesa, Arizona, USA. The show launched a partnership among the city, the university and the Phoenix-area company Pulse Drone Light Shows, which puts students at the center of real production work. The company recently published a case study of the project.
The event was organized by the City of Mesa together with Mesa Arts Center, and Pulse produced the show for them.
The students' role
ASU's Drone Show Design Program, the university's course track on designing drone shows, expanded through a partnership with the City of Mesa so that students could take part directly in production. According to Pulse, Merry Main Street was where that partnership began. Participants in the Designing Drone Light Shows course led the storyboarding and created the show's Christmas designs. They worked alongside the Pulse team through ASU's MediatedX Lab.
Venue planning
Pulse positioned the show directly behind the event stage and its large Christmas tree, so the audience could see the drones, the stage and the tree together in one view. Client feedback published by the company said a drone show takes up far less space than expected and that the logistics were very easy. Another comment thanked Pulse for a special experience at the festival and said the organizers would be in touch about next year.
Partnership continues
The relationship with Mesa carried into 2026. According to its portfolio, Pulse produced a 300-drone show for the City of Mesa on July 4, 2026. In November 2025 the company also flew a 100-drone space-themed show for the City of Tempe's Tempe Jam event, and it ran 11 Friday-night shows for the Aqua Nights summer series at JW Marriott Desert Ridge in north Phoenix.
