Greggs' Festive Bake Returns with a Space Odyssey Drone Show

In the last few years, Greggs has cemented itself at the heart of British culture - whether that be through celebs like Ryan Gosling and Aaron Paul trying their famous sausage rolls on Lad Bible's 'Snack Wars' series, or through the iconic bakery chain's seasonal campaigns. And this Christmas is no different.

One of the much-anticipated seasonal products at this time of year is the Festive Bake, which launched in 2009 and quickly gained a cult following. And each year, fans eagerly await the return of the beloved bake. Some fans even took to social media as early as September this year to plead with Greggs to launch it early. While the bakers couldn't release it quite that soon - and now that Halloween is over - the time finally came on the night of Sunday 5th.

To announce the arrival of the Festive Bake, Greggs partnered with leading drone lightshow company SKYMAGIC to put on an astronomical display above Greggs' original bakery location in Gosforth, Newcastle Upon Tyne. Taking inspiration from NASA space launches and sci-fi classic '2001: A Space Odyssey', the drones lit up the sky with various space exploration and Greggs-related images, from doughnuts to sausage rolls to rockets and - of course - the Festive Bake. 

At 200m high and twice the size of Big Ben, fans across Newcastle could see the announcement that the seasonal menu item will be returning to Greggs shops nationwide on November 9th.

500 SKYMAGIC drones were utilised to create the vibrant, dynamic imagery above the city's skyline, which lasted a total of eight minutes and showed an intergalactic voyage through the Greggs universe. As the surreal combination of tasty planets aligned, the beloved Festive Bake appeared to rotate in 3D, cosmic splendour. Fans quickly jumped on social media to post about the wondrous sight, after a cryptic social media tease campaign, produced by Sodium Films, across Greggs' channels last Thursday.

SKYMAGIC previously flew an unforgettable drone Corgi above Buckingham Palace for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and a 400-strong drone whale above Windsor Castle for the Coronation of the King. The same team lit up the skies of Newcastle last month for to celebrate the return of European football to the city. However, this show ended in a true homage to Geordie culture, with the Festive Bake sliding into an iconic Greggs bag and the logo shining proudly in the Tyneside sky.