The paper proposes a Virtual Target Guidance (VTG)-based distributed Model Predic-tive Control (MPC) scheme for formation control of multiple Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). First, a framework of distributed MPC scheme is designed in which each UAV only shares the information with its neighbors, and the obtained local Finite-Horizon Optimal Control Problem (FHOCP) can be solved by swarm intelligent optimization algorithm. Then, a VTG approach is developed and integrated into the distributed MPC scheme to achieve trajectory tracking and obsta-cle avoidance. Further, an event-triggered mechanism is proposed to reduce the computational bur-den for UAV formation control, which takes into consideration the predictive state errors as well as the convergence of cost function. Numerical simulations show that the proposed VTG-based dis-tributed MPC scheme is more computationally efficient to achieve formation control of multiple UAVs in comparison with the traditional distributed MPC method.