C-DRONE GUIDE · 20 JULY 2026
Drone footage of an event: what French law says about crowds, and the 2026 price
A festival organiser wants an aerial shot of the crowd in front of the stage for their recap video; the manager of a trail run asks for a shot of the pack from above at the start. In both cases, the pilot they call has to explain the same thing: the drone will not fly directly over the crowd itself, whatever drone model or insurance is involved. Flying over an assembly of people is one of the few absolute bans in European drone regulations, with no waiver available in the open category — something many organisers discover late, once the communication plan is already built around a shot that cannot exist as imagined. Here is exactly what the law says, how professionals still film these events anyway, and what it costs in 2026.
Published on 20 July 2026, reviewed on 4 August 2026 — regulations in force as of August 2026.
Wedding, opening ceremony, festival: where does an "assembly of people" begin?
Drone regulations draw a sharp line between flying over people — one or a few isolated individuals, or a small group, all free to move away — and flying over an assembly of people, defined by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) as a group packed so densely that an individual cannot get out of it or move away freely. A typical wedding, with guests spread across a lawn or a terrace, generally does not count as an assembly under the regulations; we cover that specific case in our guide to filming a wedding by drone without ruining the ceremony. A packed church forecourt at the end of a ceremony, a shoulder-to-shoulder trail-running start line, a concert's mosh pit or a stadium's stands, on the other hand, clearly fall under the definition of an assembly.
The distinction matters, because it changes the whole applicable legal framework — not just the flight distance or altitude, but the regulatory category itself. A pilot taking on an event job therefore has to gauge how dense the expected crowd actually is at every point in the day: a scattered drinks reception has nothing to do with the moment every guest crowds together for the group photo. A show involving several hundred drones above the crowd, covered in our guide to drone light show pricing, falls under yet another framework, specific to choreographed swarms.
What the regulations precisely say about assemblies
The European regulation governing the open category (sub-categories A1, A2 and A3) is unambiguous: flying over an assembly of people is banned there, with no exception tied to the aircraft's class (C0 to C6) or its weight. A drone under 250 g, usually the most permissive within the open category, is not exempt: the usual distinction between drone classes, which we cover in our guide to drones under versus over 250 g, stops applying the moment an assembly is involved.
In practice, as soon as a pilot identifies an assembly within the area they need to fly over — even just part of the site, like the pit in front of a stage — the open category is closed for that part of the flight. They must either exclude that area from the flight path, keeping a distance and a shooting angle that never place the aircraft directly overhead the crowd, or switch to the specific category, the only one able to grant an authorisation for operating above an area where an assembly is or will be present. Ignoring that switch exposes the pilot to the same penalties as any other unlawful overflight, covered in our guide to drone penalties and inspections in France.
How professionals still film crowds and events
Since 1 January 2026, the old national scenarios S1, S2 and S3 have completely disappeared in favour of the European standard scenarios STS-01 and STS-02, the only simplified route into the specific category without an individual risk assessment. STS-01 allows a visual-line-of-sight (VLOS) flight, up to 120 m high, using a class C5 drone (a C3 fitted with a certification kit: parachute, speed limiter), above a ground area that is exclusively controlled — including in a populated environment. That last point is what makes filming an event possible: the pilot and the organiser mark out, using physical barriers and a briefed security team, a perimeter where only people who are aware of the operation and involved in it may be present during the flight. The public stays outside that controlled perimeter, so the drone never actually flies directly over the crowd itself, even while operating right next to it.
For an operator without a C5 or C6-class drone, the PDRA-S01 pre-defined risk assessment, modelled on STS-01, offers a lighter file to the DGAC. Only genuinely flying over a dense assembly — a shot literally overhead a stadium's stands or a concert's mosh pit, with no controlled perimeter possible — requires an individual SORA assessment, the heaviest route within the specific category, reserved for large-scale productions.
Organising a mission: recce, coordination and lead times
An event mission always starts with an upfront recce alongside the organiser: mapping the expected crowd hour by hour, where barriers and security staff will stand, and the moments in the day when crowd density changes (a scattered arrival, a packed ceremony or concert, the exit). At the same time, the pilot checks the Géoportail drone map for the area — some venues hosting large gatherings sit right next to a regulated zone unrelated to the event itself, something we cover in our guide to the Géoportail drone zone map. They also check that their AlphaTango operator registration and their aerial third-party liability insurance, covered in our guides to AlphaTango registration and professional liability insurance, actually cover this kind of mission.
If the event is held in a built-up area, professional flight over public space there has been allowed in daytime open-category flight since 1 January 2026, subject to a prior préfecture notification with ten working days' notice, as we cover in our guide to flying a drone in French cities. An STS-01 or PDRA-S01 file usually adds several weeks of preparation; a project requiring an individual SORA assessment, meanwhile, needs to be scheduled several months ahead.
The price of drone coverage for an event in 2026
The price depends first on which regulatory category the mission falls under, well before the flight time itself: a standard flight outside any controlled area costs noticeably less than an STS-01 file or an individual SORA assessment. Ranges observed in France in 2026:
| Mission | Observed price (excl. VAT) |
|---|---|
| Dispersed event with no dense assembly (wedding, opening ceremony, trail run in open country) | €400 to €900 |
| Event with a controlled perimeter under the specific category (festival, trade show, urban race — STS-01 or PDRA-S01 file) | €900 to €1,800 |
| Genuine overflight of a dense assembly (concert, stadium — individual SORA assessment) | €2,500 and up, quote on request |
| Fast editing and delivery as an add-on (teaser within 72 hours) | €150 to €400 |
Our weddings & events by drone page quotes a base range of €400 to €1,500 per day: that covers missions with no controlled perimeter, the large majority of requests we receive. The extra cost of an STS-01 or PDRA-S01 file comes less from the flight itself than from the regulatory preparation time (marking out the perimeter, security briefing, C5 equipment) and the added liability the pilot takes on; an individual SORA assessment, reserved for the largest assemblies, is budgeted case by case with the organiser, often months ahead of the event.
Frequently asked questions about drones and assemblies of people
Can a drone under 250 g fly over a crowd? No: the ban applies to every drone in the open category, regardless of its weight or class.
Who decides whether a group counts as an "assembly"? It is a judgement call made on the ground by the pilot, based on how dense the crowd actually is at the time of the flight — a crowd that can scatter in a few seconds is not an assembly, a packed crowd that cannot move away is.
How much lead time is needed to organise a flight at a festival or trade show? Several weeks for an STS-01 or PDRA-S01 file, several months if the mission needs an individual SORA assessment.
What happens to a pilot who flies over the crowd anyway? The same penalties as any other unlawful overflight, covered in our guide to drone penalties and inspections in France.