City council is switched on to the idea of rotors instead of rockets

DRONES COULD REPLACE FIREWORKS FOR DISPLAYS

- By OLIVER PRIDMORE

A spectacular drone light show in Yibin, Sichuan Province of China this week

(TANG WANWEI/VCG VIA GETTY IMAGES)

NOTTINGHAM'S Bonfire Night and Riverside Festival events could both be returning to the city this year - but with drones used instead of fireworks.

Both events have been progressively scaled back and cancelled altogether in recent years as Nottingham City Council battled multi-million pound holes in its budget.

The Bonfire Night celebration at The Forest recreation ground was last staged in 2019 and the city council said when cancelling the 2024 event that rising costs meant it would "not be viable".

The annual Riverside Festival on Victoria Embankment was then cancelled in 2025 after the city council said it would not be providing its element of the event, including the fireworks display, due to budget pressures.