Paris hosts first drone festival

The city is hosting its first Drone Festival on Sunday, including an international race along the Champs-Elysees. Drones of varying shapes and sizes are zipping along the avenue, lined with trees and luxury stores, in a circuit that stops just shy of the Arc de Triomphe.

While drones are increasingly used by French security services, civilians are forbidden from flying them over Paris without special permission. Paris City Hall authorized them for Sunday’s event, aimed at introducing the public to France’s civilian drone industry.

France saw a spate of mysterious drone flyovers last year over sensitive sites that worried the authorities.