Drone show will honor 137 flood victims across the region, capping the Fourth

A drone show honoring the 137 people killed in the July 4, 2025 flood across the Hill Country region will close out Kerrville’s Fourth of July celebration Saturday night at Louise Hays Park, funded by a $100,000 donation from H-E-B’s Spirit of Givin

The 10-minute show, titled “A Tribute Written in Light,” will follow the city’s fireworks display, which is scheduled for approximately 9:45 p.m. It’s the first drone show ever held in Kerrville.

The show was organized by Kerr Together, the coordinating body for the region’s long-term flood recovery, in partnership with H-E-B. William Whitson, representing Kerr Together, announced the donation at a Kerrville City Council meeting last month, along with a separate $2.5 million H-E-B pledge toward rebuilding Louise Hays Park — on top of $8.4 million the city had already committed to the project.

The show is built around 10 sequential images, according to a website Kerr Together and H-E-B set up to walk viewers through the display beforehand. The images move from grief toward resilience: a night sky filled with 137 stars, with brighter stars marking those still missing; a young tree growing beside the Guadalupe River; Lupe, the Guadalupe bass memorial that survived the flood; tributes to first responders and to the volunteers and neighbors who carried the community through recovery; and a closing sequence tying the flood anniversary to the nation’s 250th birthday.

“As the lights fade from the sky, we hope these images serve not only as a remembrance of where we have been, but as a reflection of where we are going together,” organizers wrote on the site.

The drone show is the finale to a full day of Fourth on the River programming at Louise Hays Park, hosted by Arcadia Live, running from 2 to 10 p.m. Saturday. Symphony of the Hills performs “Stars, Stripes and Spirit: Remembrance & Resilience” at 4 p.m. at the Cailloux Theater, and the park will host live music, food vendors and children’s activities throughout the afternoon and evening.

The city is closing Tranquility Island and the Kerrville River Trail from Francisco Lemos Street to Louise Hays Park, including the Butt-Holdsworth Memorial Library ramp, at 8 p.m. Saturday to prepare for the fireworks and drone show. That area will reopen once the Kerrville Fire Department confirms it’s safe following both displays. Louise Hays Park itself is closed to vehicle traffic throughout the day both Friday and Saturday.

Kerr Together is also directing people affected by the flood to its mental health and recovery resources page at kerrtogether.com.