2,000 Drones Over Paris — Crostars Marks the Olympic Art Charter’s 30th Anniversary

On the evening of July 16, 2,000 drones rose over the Seine and assembled into the five-star logo of the World OLYMP’ARTS Council above a crowd of 230 delegates from more than 70 countries. The occasion was the 30th anniversary of the Olympic Art Charter, celebrated at UNESCO headquarters in Paris. The performance was by Crostars.

“Art is a bridge that transcends language,” said Shi Zheyuan, Crostars founder and Global Chairman of the World Low-Altitude Economy and Arts Development Committee, reflecting on the evening. “Technology is the thread that connects civilizations.”

What the Show Looked Like

The creative brief took four months to develop. The team started with Paris itself — the Eiffel Tower, the Seine, the city’s identity as a cultural capital. From there, they added imagery from across civilizations: symbols from five continents, a Chinese dragon in full flight, a panda, a futuristic flying figure. The effect was a visual argument for cultural exchange made without words.

A second performance was dedicated to brand storytelling, with the night sky serving as a canvas for a series of global brands. Each one had its own visual language — Huawei’s precision and innovation rendered in light; Bosideng’s warmth translated into aerial form. Brand shows of this kind require different creative and technical work than cultural performances — the precision demanded is different when you’re working with a specific brand identity rather than an open artistic brief.

To make either show happen in Paris required months of coordination with French authorities on airspace applications, site surveys, and logistics — all handled in close collaboration with local professional teams. The shows ran clean.

The Technology Behind It

2,000 drones in formation over a river in a major European city, without incident, is not an accident. The C5 system that powered this performance runs on millimeter-level positioning, Crostars-developed flight control software, ground station software, and design tools — all built in-house. The in-house stack matters for a practical reason. The team can adjust flight paths, speeds, and formation parameters for each performance. They don’t have to work around the constraints of third-party systems.

Shi Zheyuan (Rocky Shi)’s New Role at the Olympic Arts Council

The Paris event also marked a formal milestone for Crostars. Shi Zheyuan received designation as Global Chairman of the newly established World Low-Altitude Economy and Arts Development Committee — a body operating under the World OLYMP’ARTS Council. The designation recognizes Crostars’ position at the intersection of drone technology and international arts development, and formalizes a relationship with the Olympic arts world that has been building since the company’s Paris debut.

Media Coverage After the Show

Coverage spread across nine countries in English, French, and German. Outlets included Eurozone Times, The Europa Herald, The Parisian Times, AFP Forum, Yahoo Finance France, and European Business Magazine. In China, the story ran in CCTV, Xinhua, People’s Daily, Global Times, and China Daily.

More concretely: Crostars received over a dozen new client enquiries at the event itself, before anyone had flown home. Shi Zheyuan noted that international business now accounts for more than half of the company’s total revenue. That figure reflects years of consistent work outside China, not a single breakout moment.

Crostars currently holds roughly one-third of the global market for drone formation performance. More than 90% of the world’s formation drones come from China. That context matters when thinking about what a Paris performance represents — it’s not just a show, it’s a market statement.

Crostars’ Next Steps After Paris

The Global Landmark Summit Initiative and the planned network of 100+ Sky Art Gallery venues worldwide are the next chapters. The Paris anniversary was one data point in a longer arc — Crostars performing at significant moments in significant places, building the kind of track record that makes the next conversation easier.

To explore Crostars’ global work, visit our show portfolio and about page. For project enquiries, contact us here.