A performance featuring 500 drones flying in tandem over Singapore's The Float @ Marina Bay on New Year's Eve has wowed the pants off the internet.

A time-lapse video, which claimed that the footage showed the Singapore drone performance, was uploaded to Facebook by Jason Houck and has been watched 469,000 times in 16 hours.

Except that footage was shot at the Zurich Festival in Switzerland, held from July 5 to 7, 2019 -- and utilised only 150 drones.

The Singapore version of the drone performance, featuring Singapore icons such as the Merlion, made use of 500 drones and can be viewed here:

Japanese technical director

The intricate drone performance is the brainchild of Star Island's technical director Yoshida Takumi, The Straits Times reported.

He was backed by a 30-strong drone team, which includes 10 specialist pilots and engineers.

Takumi previously organised a 500-drone display at the Tokyo Motor Show.

Drone is size of palm

Each drone is about the size of an outstretched palm.

They were flying ing pre-programmed formations and manoeuvred within a metre from each other.

They are operated via a GPS flight system.

It took about a year to prepare for the performance, from conceptualising ideas to settling on the final execution.

This performance was part of the second annual Star Island Singapore Countdown Edition, which also featured fireworks, music and live performances that lasted 90 minutes.

The Marina Bay Singapore Countdown 2020 was the biggest countdown event in Singapore.

You can also check out this other videos of the drone performance: