Vivid Sydney cancelled its highly anticipated drone show less than 20 minutes before it was scheduled to begin, leaving attendees infuriated.

Organisers announced on social media that the Love Is In The Air spectacle would be cancelled on the final night of Vivid due to the weather conditions.

"Unfortunately, due to forecasted weather conditions, the Vivid Sydney drone will not proceed this evening," the statement read.

"The show will not be rescheduled, as tonight marks the conclusion of Vivid Sydney 2024.

"We apologise for the inconvenience and thank you for understanding."

Screens at the festival said the event was unable to proceed because of "inclement weather".

Vivid Sydney time stamped the online announcement at 8.43pm, but the post wasn't shared to the festival's X account until 8.52pm.

In response to a question by the ABC about whether the event would proceed, organisers were confident it would go ahead, saying "we're all set" at 6.30pm.

The drone show was scheduled to begin at 9.10pm and conclude at 9.20pm.

'What a complete debacle'

Many attendees took to social media to express their frustration, with some pointing out how there were no adverse weather conditions.

"What a complete debacle. Needs a total overhaul next year — absolute mess," wrote one person on X.

Another said: "Sitting here at [Mrs Macquarie's Chair] and weather is fine. Thanks for the notice 9.12pm."

Some had waited hours for the event to start.

"We have been waiting from 7pm. And so many families with children waiting eagerly," one person on Facebook wrote.

Others said they had travelled overseas and interstate to see the show.

Belinda, who made the trip to Sydney from Indonesia, told ABC Radio Sydney that it was "really disappointing".

Sydney's Observatory Hill weather station recorded 6.4 millimetres of rain from 9am to 4pm.

A festival spokesperson said the cancellation wasn't taken lightly and couldn't be postponed.

"We're very disappointed that our final drone show was cancelled, and we apologise for any inconvenience caused," the spokesperson said.

"Drone operation is very sensitive, and the shows are weather dependent.

"Public safety is paramount and Vivid Sydney follows the direction and advice of the specialist operators of the drones."

NSW Premier Chris Minns acknowledged that families and children would have been disappointed but said the late notice by organisers had nothing to do with "inconveniencing" people.

"I'm really sorry about it, I know a lot of families and a lot of kids were looking forward to it," Mr Minns said.

"The decision was made by the drone operator and it was completely weather dependent. 

"They made the call as late as possible not to inconvenience families but to see whether they could actually go ahead with the program in any even. Unfortunately, that wasn't possible."

He said the government was determined to schedule more free events in recognition that "families were doing really tough at the moment".

Drones not 'waterproof', organisers say

Vic Lorusso from the Australian Traffic Network, who operated the drones for the event, told Radio Sydney the organisation was "extremely disappointed".

"We were monitoring the weather all the way through yesterday," Mr Lorusso said.

Mr Lorusso said the "critical decision" to cancel the show was made at 8:15pm because of the forecasted weather.

"What actually we did see was a significant weather cell approaching and it really was expected to coincide with the flight take-off time," he said.

"And the primary reason for the decision was really to ensure the safety of the public is paramount. 

"Our drones, while they are water-resistant, they're not waterproof. And the risk of launching them in such conditions is far too great. It could lead to unexpected drone malfunctions or collisions posing a significant safety hazard to the audience."

It comes after attendees watching last weekend's drone show said they felt "trapped" when a larger-than-expected crowd gathered by the harbour to watch the spectacle.