Karl Outerbridge put his heart into it but the drone light show he hoped to put on tomorrow will not go ahead.

After months of planning, the organiser admitted that he was “disappointed”, but could do little about it as the sponsorship he anticipated had not fallen into place in time.

He remains hopeful it can still be done at a later date.

Residents would have enjoyed the free show as part of a daylong family affair at Bernard Park celebrating cricket and Cup Match.

Fish sandwiches and dinners, stalls with Cup Match-branded items, cricket-related games and drone-flying lessons were all meant to be part of the event.

Mr Outerbridge hoped it would help build excitement for the annual two-day match, which will be held at St George’s Cricket Club on Thursday and Friday.

“There just wasn't enough time to raise funds, to get all the sponsorship in place. I started out in February with the idea and a lot of work went into the groundwork. And I think by the time we were ready to actually sell the show, a lot of companies, potential sponsors, their budgets had already been allocated for the Cup Match period,” he said. “But the thing is, because all of the groundwork has been put in place, particularly with the Bermuda Civil Aviation Authority, what I'm going to do is just take what work has already been done for a show maybe later this year.”

About 300 drones were to take to the skies above North Hamilton at 9.30pm tomorrow to illustrate a Cup Match timeline laid out by local historian Michael Bradshaw.

The drones were to have been manned by US-based Sky Elements, “a high-technology aerial entertainment company that tells stories with light and sound, using the sky as our canvas”.

Mr Outerbridge, who publicly announced his plan in May, believes an article that appeared in The Royal Gazette was helpful in attracting attention but “a bit of sticker shock” put would-be sponsors off. The cost of the show is similar to the cost of a fireworks display. Mr Outerbridge would not have made any money from the event himself.

“There was a good bit of feedback. But there was some sticker shock because it's not that cheap to actually put on just one show because they had to fly in the drones, that’s where the cost would have been.

“So now I'm going to get back out there again, the companies that I’ve spoken to I’m going to reapproach them to see if something can be organised for another date. Right now I just want to let people know that it's been postponed but that they should keep their eye out for a future date.”

The North Hamilton resident had hoped the show would also be a gift to his neighbours.

“The number one reason why I wanted to do this is I wanted to bring a high-end show to the North Hamilton/Pembroke area.

“Normally when there are firework displays going off, they are usually down by Harbour Road, they’re somewhere off Castle Harbour,” Mr Outerbridge told The Royal Gazette in May.

“This is the area that normally doesn't have a front-row seat to this type of event. And so for me, this is the opportunity to put such an event right on the doorsteps of people that live in the area.”

Thanks to support from the Bermuda Civil Aviation Authority and DHL he remains hopeful that it will one day happen.

“DHL was extremely helpful because they got involved early in the game. But those were some of the key bits that had to be nailed down and that's the groundwork that I need to just keep building on top of,” Mr Outerbridge said.

The Ministry of Youth, Sport and Recreation was similarly helpful, however the response from other areas of government was “a bit disappointing”, he added.

Public feedback has kept him going.

“It’s been overwhelming. So many people, everyone who has heard about it, everyone was saying they were looking forward to it … it’s been overwhelmingly positive that people want to see this take place in Bermuda because it’s something new, something different. And I think it's needed for Bermuda. It's the ribbon that goes on top of the box.”

• Contact Karl Outerbridge at karl.outerbridge@outlook.com. For more on Sky Elements, visit skyelementsdrones.com/