Elgin’s End of Summer Bash in downtown Festival Park concluded Saturday night with a 10-minute lighted drone show that was a first for the city and likely a first for many in the audience, including two young girls who went home quite impressed.
“I loved it 100 percent,” Vivienne Symonds, 5, said.
“I loved it 10,000 percent,” her sister Emily, 7, added.
The girls were at the event with their parents, Joy and Dan Symonds, who own Symonds-Madison Funeral Home in Elgin. Neither of them had seen a drone show prior to Saturday.
They were among a crowd of several thousand who watched as the drones formed, among other things, geometric shapes that morphed into colorful atoms, planets, a flower, the sun, clouds, a bicycle, Illinois, a riverboat, a train, a fisherman, a bull and a beachball.
As a finale, the drones also spelled out the words “Good Night Elgin,” followed by an all-white marching band formation.
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“We parked at the train station on National Street and watched them backwards: ‘thgin dooG niglE,'” said Alice Moring, of Elgin. “My favorite part was when they ascended in a sort of colorful swarm, like bees. Beautiful.”
The Symonds girls said their favorites were the drone formations of the state of Illinois, a dog and the two nods to Elgin, one of which simply put the town’s name in lights.
Dan Symonds said he enjoyed that the act was synchronized to uptempo music, although he was surprised the pacing wasn’t a little faster.
“I thought it was going to be a little more fireworks-like,” he said.
Elgin City Councilwoman Carol Rauschenberger, speaking before the show while she made buttons for children at a booth for Elgin food coop Shared Harvest, credited the city for finding something original for the gathering, although she, too, later wondered about the show’s timing.
“Interestingly enough, some community members have been talking about a more sustainable event that is less dangerous and with less noise than fireworks,” Rauschenberger said. “I’m glad Elgin is trying it out and doing something forward and new.”
Visiting the Shared Harvest booth were Jacob Hamm and Iris Chontal, of Elgin, accompanied by their 21/2-year-old son, Leonardo.
“I actually thought there were going to be fireworks, but when I heard it was going to be a drone show, it piqued my interest,” Hamm said.
They came to the event early in the evening so Leonardo could enjoy family-friendly attractions, which included a bouncy house, bubble machines, a giant Lite Brite display, 18 food vendors, and live musical acts Justin Roberts and the Not Ready for Naptime Players and Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band.
“We’re here for a little bit of everything too,” said Vanessa Perez, of Carpentersville, who attended with her husband and two sons.
The crowd grew from several hundred when the event started at 5:30 p.m. to several thousand as dusk settled. Kids played with glow-in-the-dark swords while waiting for the sun to set.
Before the drones took to the sky, Alisha Gaddis of The Family Jam band revved up the crowd.
“Elgin, you are gorgeous. Yes, you are,” she exclaimed during a dance pop number.
Gaddis’ husband, Lucky Diaz, concluded the act’s set with, “Have an awesome end to summer.”
Mike Danahey is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
