La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club is seeking financial support from the community to help fund a second Fourth of July drone performance this year.

After its successful inaugural 2023 drone show, the resort at 2000 Spindrift Drive in La Jolla Shores hopes to replicate that display of technology and modern entertainment. The goal is to help make this year’s second show a reality and an annual La Jolla tradition moving forward.

In partnership with the LJ STEAM Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to enhancing science, technology, education, arts, and music for La Jolla, LJB&TC is seeking public backing to finance its environmentally conscious holiday celebration.

“Building on last year’s success, we are looking to elevate this year’s event and make it more spectacular than before,” said William “Bill” J. Kellogg, LJB&TC president. “We have launched a fundraising campaign in conjunction with the LJ STEAM Foundation to offset the costs of hosting this free community event. We welcome donations of all sizes. If the community truly supports this event and wants it to happen in future years, contributing to the foundation’s drone show fund will make it possible to keep the tradition alive.”

Businesses and individuals can make tax-deductible donations at ljsteam.org, or by mailing checks to the LJ STEAM Foundation at 7742 Herschel Ave., Suite L, La Jolla, CA 92037. Donations must specify the 4th of July Drone Show as the designated cause.

Launching at 9 p.m. on Thursday, July 4, LJB&TC’s synchronized drone show will feature 200 drones soaring 350 feet above the shoreline. Event attendees can expect an awe-inspiring performance, showcasing a symphony of lights and colors expertly choreographed to simulate the grandeur of traditional fireworks, complete with patriotic imagery.

While the main viewing area will be at the south end of Kellogg Park, spectators can also enjoy the spectacle from the surrounding park and beach areas near the La Jolla Shores Hotel and the Beach Club, as well as at La Jolla Cove.

LA JOLLA FIREWORKS

For its first quarter-century, the annual La Jolla Cove fireworks display, started by La Jolla restaurateur George Hauer in 1985, went almost without a hitch. Then came legal challenges alleging environmental damage to the ocean from the pyrotechnic display. After Hauer stepped back relinquishing control of the event, it was saved by the formation of the grassroots La Jolla Community Fireworks Foundation. Spearheaded by Deborah Marengo, LJCFF struggled for years to raise the approximately $60,000-plus cost of staging an annual community fireworks display. La Jolla Village Merchants Association, the community’s business improvement district, took over the fireworks extravaganza in 2015 and has been working with Marengo to keep the event afloat. After a 32-year run, the Fourth of July fireworks display at La Jolla Cove finally fizzled out. Due to ongoing fundraising issues, the annual display was finally forced to cancel in 2017.

In 2023 La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club at La Jolla Shores announced it would be joining a growing trend of Independence Day celebrations without fireworks. The club hosted a show with 100-plus drones. The services of Jeff Stein and his company, Drone Studios, were retained to do the approximately 15-minute drone show, which featured patriotic imagery and drones launched from the beach club property which were visible over Avenida de la Playa, and in front of La Jolla Shores Hotel.