New Year's Eve in 2200? A spectacular light show with the 'fireworks' of the future

A glass of champagne, 'oliebollen' and fireworks: these are the ingredients for a successful New Year's celebration. But the New Year's Eve of the future may look very different, given that the world is moving more and more toward a more sustainable and safe future, and we may wonder whether traditional fireworks still fit that bill. In this column, I outline a futuristic turn of the year in which the old, familiar fireworks give way to promising technology.

The smell of a freshly lit firecracker. That smell always stays with me. The memory of it takes me back to the parking lot of the village hall here just around the corner. I must have been about ten years old when my friends and I gathered. While some were setting off firecrackers and flares, others were busy with a more ambitious project: making a big firework bomb.

I, too, am working diligently. I tear open fireworks to collect the spice for the bomb. It is already becoming quite a large pile. Around the herb we put firecrackers, flares and ground flowers, about 20 in all. At least. A firework bomb like this is obviously not the safest toy for an elementary school child. Fortunately, I have never had to witness an accident up close.

etting off fireworks yourself is less and less the norm. Proponents point out their dangers. There were two more fatalities during the turn of the year 2023-2024. In addition, by no means everyone is happy with the mess left on the streets after the celebration. No, it is certainly not sustainable.

High time to reconsider the traditional fireworks show. We are already moving toward such a future. Technology offers a promising alternative. In 2012, the first drone art show took place in Linz, Austria. The much-discussed Shanghai show, celebrating the start of the new decade in 2020, showed 2,000 drones taking off and creating shapes, such as an animated running man.

2,000 drones: that's a lot of flying robots all together, but, of course, we can go bigger. What, if... the whole world joined forces for a huge drone 'fireworks' show? How far can we go? And what other technologies will we use in, say, 100 to 200 years to create a light show we'll never forget?

Turn of the year 2200-2201: millions of drones

New Year's Eve 2200-2201. Traditional fireworks were discovered in China some 2,000 years ago. Thousands of years later, the country is once again sparkling, but with drones. In the streets of Shanghai, the atmosphere is right there. The city is buzzing with excitement as, in less than 12 hours, nearly a million drones will take to the air for the most spectacular light show the world has ever seen. It is the culmination of a global event involving people from all over the world, a new tradition that has surpassed the Olympics in popularity.

Drone companies from all corners of the earth are competing against each other, each determined to create the most impressive show. The sky will be filled with dancing light figures, laser projections and holograms embracing the city's skyline. Teams of engineers, artists and programmers have been working on preparations for months. The drones themselves, equipped with ultra-precision sensors and AI, will perform breathtaking choreography in perfect synchronization.

Turn of the year 2250-2251: sustainable rockets

Fast forward to the turn of the year 2250-2251. Now we can all effortlessly, all at once on Earth, enjoy the same show. As the clock counts down the last seconds of the old year, thousands of sustainable rockets are shot into the sky. These rockets use pioneering green propulsion systems, such as the ion engine, which runs on electricity instead of fossil fuels. The rockets emit no harmful gases and travel silently through the air, with a minimal carbon footprint. Around the world, people gather in groups in places under the dark sky, from the busy streets of New York to the vast plains of Australia, all witnessing the same unprecedented spectacle. In the sky, the rockets form an impressive choreography of light, beyond our atmosphere.

New Year's Eve 2300-2301: interactive nanobots

The turn of the year 2300-2301 is not only a celebration of the old year, but also a moment when the entire starry sky turns into a living, interactive canvas. The use of rockets is obsolete; the new generation of light shows uses nanotechnology.

This spectacle is also visible all over the earth. Millions of tiny nanoparticles, distributed by advanced nanobots located just outside our atmosphere, create stunning visual effects that fill the skies. These particles can form and reconfigure in a fraction of a second, resulting in a dynamic and vibrant light show. The light waves are not only an explosion of color, but also interactive, thanks to smart feedback systems.

People can influence the show by simply sticking their finger in the air and pointing to the part of the sky where they want to interact with the nanoparticles. Every year there is a new trend: for example, in 2301, people worldwide together create an immense vortex of light by moving their fingers in the right way, causing the nanoparticles to form a kind of whirlwind. Sort of the same idea as the “wave” in a stadium, but more advanced.

Back to the oliebollen

I personally have no spectacular New Year's Eve plans this year. You won't see me making a fireworks bomb anytime soon. A star in hand at 00:00, at my sister's house. But that's all. Hopefully we can also enjoy some “old-fashioned” ornamental fireworks cartridges lighting up the sky. Not a show with sustainable rockets or nanoparticles, but with those starlets - and especially the 'oliebollen'! - will get us a long way. I wish you a happy New Year!