I grew up celebrating Bonfire Night with a few rockets in a milk bottle and a Catherine wheel attached to the fence in our garden so to now be watching drone light shows creating animations in the sky is indeed light years apart.

Yuup and Celestial’s Evolution uses hundreds of drones to shapeshift and colour change to build moving images and sequences in the night sky.

In doing so, it tells the tale of evolution beginning with the Big Bang, taking us through the beginning of life forms into the age of the dinosaurs and the arrival of humanity up to the present day.

Each part of the story is told through music, a commentary and the lights forming and reforming to create moving shapes. At times these are more abstract such as the stars at night swirling in their galaxies and at others they are very clear with dinosaurs, human beings and even rockets above our heads.

Some of the animations have real wow factor – the head of a tyrannosaurus rex rotates before us, its jaws opening and eyes shining, a woolly mammoth raises its trunk and a human hand waves.

And the show finishes with a message of the uncertain future of our planet and of the responsibility we all have to ensure its evolution continues. As a turtle swims in the sky we can’t help but picture those images we have seen of turtles trapped in discarded rubbish and recall how fragile life is.

Created by Celestial, Evolution certainly takes forward the traditional bonfire night and fireworks, creating storyscapes which both entertain and amaze.

At less than half an hour though, it is a shame the show is so short. The team try their best with drone races beforehand but these can’t equal the actual light show and it feels like it has no sooner begun than it is reaching its conclusion.

Taking place at Edgbaston Stadium there was other entertainment available in the shape of a food market but the real draw is the lights.

At the moment, the drones don’t have the power to remain in the sky for long and while it may have looked to audience members as if the same drones played for the whole show in fact they have to swap and change to reach even half an hour. So perhaps when this technology has evolved audiences can enjoy a full evening of their wonderful imagery.

Three stars

Reviewed by Diane Parkes at Edgbaston Stadium on Saturday 26 October. For more information on future shows visit yuup.co/evolution