As the clock approached 9 p.m. July 4, tourists and locals gathered their blankets, snacks, family and friends, and headed toward the Durango Transit Center. As they backed into parking spaces and climbed atop their cars, all eyes turned to the sky in anticipation for the city of Durango’s Fourth of July drone show.
But the show, which lasted about 10 minutes and cost $45,000, proved to be a disappointment to many.
“Definitely will not spend my time waiting and watching this again! Very disappointing!” read one comment on the city’s Facebook page.
This was the second year the city opted for a drone show instead of a fireworks show. City spokesman Tom Sluis said the fire danger was the primary reason behind the city’s decision to put on a drone show rather than a fireworks show.
“Every year that we have historically had fireworks, we’ve had fires, it just goes with the territory,” Sluis said.
The city’s Facebook post celebrating the spectacle includes a picture of spectators watching the drone show.
While a few comments commended the show, most expressed criticism.
“How the mighty have fallen. This is such a joke,” commented Durango resident Melanie Slade Davey.
In an interview with The Durango Herald, Davey said she did not bother attending the drone show and instead went to see the firework show in Farmington.
“I remember when the fireworks were live, what a great show it was, how excited my kids got and how much fun we had,” she said. “From everything I’ve seen, the drone show is just a total disappointment. Why even bother? I wouldn’t waste my time going to Durango.”
Other commenters called the show “pitiful” and “lame” and a “waste of money.”
The city fielded complaints regarding the cost, duration and lack of excitement inspired by the show.
“I mean, who doesn’t like a good fireworks show, right? It’s fun, it’s explosive, and it’s dangerous and exciting,” Sluis said. “It’s just hard to make that transition (away from fireworks). Change is hard.”
Eventually, comments began comparing neighboring towns’ (primarily Bayfield’s) fireworks shows to Durango’s lack of one.
“Bayfield’s celebration of the 4th again sets the standard for La Plata County,” read one Facebook comment.
On July 8, the city of Durango addressed the criticism head-on by posting a video to the city’s Facebook, Instagram and TikTok pages.
In the video, the city writes: “When people don’t like your July 4 drone show,” and features a gif of Jennifer Lawrence repeatedly asking, “What do you mean?” A caption then reads, “Well, at least there were no fires.”
While some commenters remained critical of the drone show, many of the responses became supportive and appreciative of the city’s sense of humor.
“The drone show was lame but this is funny,” commented Durango resident Shera Johnson. “Kind of surprised it’s happening on the government page but I’m all for more authenticity.”
The city of Durango replied: “The customer service statement of the city’s Public Information Office: ‘Humanizing the Bureaucracy.’ We have to be able to make fun of ourselves.”
“The whole goal (of the videos) was to make sure that everybody was in on the joke and to build that relationship with the public, and have that kind of engagement,” said Sluis, who created the video.
In an interview with the Herald, Johnson said it was nice to see a “government page” laughing at themselves and the posts made it clear the city had heard the public’s complaints and were acknowledging them.
“I appreciate a conversation more than I appreciate silence and people making assumptions,” Johnson said. “It opens up dialogue.”
Denise Telck, a public information specialist for the city of Durango, said the aim of the city’s social media pages is to connect with the public, and show that the city is taking accountability for the decisions it makes.
“This was a great opportunity for us to engage with the people that weren’t exactly happy with the show and kind of be like, ‘Yeah, we understand that, we can do better.’ And it was a way for us to recognize our faults,” Telck said. “We are also trying to incorporate a fun side to the city.”
A second video, which was posted to the city’s Instagram page, opens with a screen shot of someone’s pithy post reading: “The real Americans can keep coming to Bayfield to celebrate Independence Day the way it should be. Explosives.” The video is followed by a series of clips showing cars launching off a cliff with the city’s text reading: “Challenge accepted, Bayfield. Next year for Durango: Car launches.”
Sluis said he invited Bayfield town officials to join in on the friendly banter and has made it clear that the posts are not a dig at Bayfield’s decision to hold a fireworks show.
The town of Bayfield seemed to accept the invitation, posting a gif on the city of Durango’s Instagram page depicting Australian “Survivor” host Jonathan LaPaglia with the caption, “It’s David vs Goliath.”
Response to both videos were largely positive with Instagram comments reading “I had no idea the City of Durango was so unhinged lol,” and “Whoever is running the city’s social media accounts deserves a rise (laughing emoji, laughing emoji, fire emoji).”
Moving forward, Sluis said he hopes to continue incorporating humor into the city’s social media presence when appropriate.
“If we can maintain our credibility, while getting our messaging out and engaging the public in a productive fashion, we absolutely want to keep the (humorous) tone,” he said. “But humor is a tough gig. Not everybody’s going to always get the joke.”
As for the future of the drone show, Sluis said the city has not made any final decisions. Options include a drone show, fireworks show and demolition derby, and a final decision likely won’t be made until May when the fire risk can be better assessed.
lveress@duarngoherald.com
