St. Pete Pier Hosts 1 Year Anniversary Event With Drone Light Show

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (CW44 News At 10) - Locals and tourists alike are gearing up to celebrate the one year anniversary of the St. Petersburg Pier. The celebration this Saturday will include a unique drone light show.

CW44 News At 10

The St. Pete Pier is poised to be hopping Saturday, July 31 as Mayor Rick Kriseman will assist locals in celebrating the one year anniversary with plenty of attractions and a one-of-a-kind immersive drone light show. The light show will consist of 300 drones equipped with LED lights which will create formations stretching over 500 feet across in St. Pete's night sky. The event, presented by Duke Energy will provide the first 2,000 guests arriving at Spa Beach Park with wristbands that will interact with the display throughout the evening.

CW44's Mika Rotunda shared an interview with Mayor Kriseman, who is excited to finally celebrate the opening of the new pier. "Obviously, with the hurricane that blew through, we ended up having to reschedule our one year celebration, but we're glad we're able to do it in the month of July, which is when we opened the pier [in 2020]."

Mayor Kriseman says he's unaware of any drone shows that occured in the Tampa Bay region to date. He shares, this unique to St. Pete show will be "recreating St. Petersburg and what is iconic about St Petersburg."

The pier, or 'emotional infrastructure' as Mayor Kriseman regards it, is "where people get engaged, or celebrate anniversaries and birthdays. You want to have a central place like that in your community and I think that's what we've really created here with the pier district. We say there are a lot of ex-PIER-iences here… at the St. Pete Pier and as you walk through the entire district, there's so much to see here and the beauty is… it's really accessible to everyone."

The 26 acre destination is loaded with fun for everyone. Mayor Kriseman says, "We're obviously incredibly proud of the Pier and a lot of hard work went into building this beautiful destination. But really, what I think it has become, is our Central Park… our central gathering and meeting place."

So Saturday, July 31, 2021, the Mayor invites people of all ages to enjoy the pier from a different perspective. The celebration starts at 5pm and will span through 10p.m., "So, if you come during the day and then come back at night, you'll see that it is a totally different feel."

For spectators wary of red tide, Mayor Kriseman says the city staff have worked tirelessly to improve the waterways surrounding the pier. "We've had great partners in Pinellas County. Fish and Wildlife, Florida Department of Wildlife Protection, it's been everybody coming together to take care of a real issue."

Again, the event begins at 5pm at Spa Beach Park with live bands and the drone show is expected to begin at 9 p.m.. Mayor Kriseman adds, "If you're in the downtown, obviously the Pier is going to be the best place to see the drone show. But, throughout the downtown waterfront you should be able to see it, and it should start... at 9pm."

For directions and further event details, click here.

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