A city day usually ends with fireworks or a drone show. It is expensive. In 2026 public tenders Barnaul put 8 minutes of fireworks out for 1.4 million rubles, Chelyabinsk budgeted more than 5 million for fireworks, and a district in the Komi Republic tendered a drone show for 3.52 million. Fireworks aren’t allowed at every venue either, and drones get cancelled because of wind. A laser show for a city day needs rigging and a dark sky, and viewers still only watch it.
A finale the square takes part in
A QR code appears on the stage screen, people open the page in the browser and raise their phones. Commands go out as ultrasound through the square’s speakers, so thousands of flashlights flash together to the music. No mobile internet is needed, and an overloaded network at the celebration doesn’t get in the way.
- Fireworks: millions of rubles, venue bans, cleaning
- Drones: millions of rubles, cancellations due to wind and rain, flight permits
- Performers: people watch but don’t take part
- Flashlights: the whole square takes part, no permits or cleaning
What the organizer needs to provide
A screen or projection with the QR code, sound across the square and an announcement by the host at least a minute and a half before the show. We prepare the script and control tracks in advance. The show can also go together with fireworks: first the square lights up with phones, then the salvo. The show fits into other city and mass cultural events the same way: city celebrations, festivals, street concerts.
How to run a mass event: what to get approved
Under Russian law a city celebration, festival or street concert is not a public assembly like a rally, which requires a notification under Federal Law 54-FZ. The procedure for cultural and sports mass events is set by regions and municipalities, so the details should be checked with your local administration. The list is usually similar:
- Approval of the place and time with the administration, street closures
- Notifying the police and a security plan, entry screening for large events
- An ambulance on site, fire safety, an evacuation plan
- Barriers, toilets, waste removal
- Approval of pyrotechnics if there are fireworks, and of flights if there are drones
- Checking whether temporary regional restrictions on mass events are in force
The less equipment and hazardous effects on site, the shorter this list. A phone flashlight show adds nothing to it: no pyrotechnics, no flights, no extra rigging.
A city day programme by the hour
- Daytime. The family part: playgrounds, workshops, a fair, sports competitions
- Evening. The official part on the main stage: welcomes, honouring distinguished residents
- Later. A concert by local groups, then the headliner
- Finale. Fireworks, drones or a light show by the whole square. Best once it is dark and before people start leaving
Script options with an opening and a finale in the article on the event script.
After the show a celebration partner’s page or a prize draw can open in viewers’ browsers, so city day advertising gets measurable clicks. And people film the glowing square themselves and post it.
A detailed comparison with drones: a drone show alternative. Other options without pyrotechnics: what to use instead of fireworks. How the show works at big concerts is on the concert light show page.