5 minute read
MAGIC MOMENTS
Lighting the way
In 2022, LUMAGICA, the light trail brand, expanded its presence in the UK. MK Experience, the company responsible for creating LUMAGICA, produced two light trails at The Wetlands Trust and Willows Activity Farm, St Albans. In this Q&A, Gilbert Menassa, managing director of MK Experience, discusses lessons learned and the future
HOW DID LUMAGICA COME ABOUT?
LUMAGICA is a fairly new company. It has been around globally for three years and in that time, we have successfully delivered 28 light trails. In the UK, we currently have two trails and plan to grow this year to four.
The LUMAGICA name comes from lumen for light, coupled with magic, with the idea of bringing those two things together. It was conceived by our parent company MK Illuminations, which has been in the market for 25 years and created the lighting for many high streets and shopping centres in the world.
LUMAGICA was the natural next step in turning a lighting installation into a more interactive experience for the customer - so that’s where the idea of creating light trails started.
We looked at multiple locations, but with the UK being such a competitive market, it was essential to find the right partner to work with. We get approached to do light trails on a weekly basis, but we must pick who we work with very carefully to ensure the right fit. Our goal for our first year in the UK [developing a trail at The Wetlands Trust] was really to assess the appetite for it, given it was already a developed market where light trails have been operational for the last 12 years.
WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE TO ENTER THE LIGHT TRAIL MARKET?
As a lighting company with 25 years’ experience in that market, it made complete sense to enter the light trail field and test the ground to see how that could work. But being in a busy sector is a reason to think smartly about how you enter that market. If you have the right attitude, the right position, and the right offer, a busy market could be very interesting. It presents you with a challenge and, if you have a genuine passion for your product, you will always find a way to deliver something that works in that market.
WHAT FORMAT DOES THE LUMAGICA LIGHT TRAIL TAKE?
In our first year, the light trail focused on set show pieces supported with some small areas of interactivity, so we could see how – and what – would appeal to our visitors. For the second year, we have introduced more interactivity. For example, with four different push buttons, we’ve created a personalised experience where visitors can create their own music or unique show. We also have a sound and vision show in St Albans [which launched in 2022], which is a repeating animation featuring a lion, jellyfish, and dolphins on the lake that starts every three minutes and lasts for six minutes.
IS THE LUMAGICA ST ALBANS EVENT YOU DELIVERED THE ONE YOU IMAGINED?
Obviously, every site we work on goes through several changes between conception and implementation! For example, the St Albans site started off as a succession of about 50 tunnels, with guests walking through a tunnel which changes and starts creating a new experience and new environment. The initial idea was to break the Guinness World Record for the longest illuminated tunnel in the world, but that just wasn’t feasible in the end. So, we developed an idea to have four tunnels on site – which, despite being far from our initial ideas – is still probably the site with the most light tunnels in the UK!
HOW DO YOU FEEL THE EVENT WENT?
LUMAGICA St Albans has gone really well. The UK market is hugely competitive so we needed to enter cautiously to avoid any big mistakes. We consider our light trails to be good value for money for paying visitors. We’re not the cheapest, but the experience is absolutely worth every penny. As a result, the feedback from visitors has been immensely positive.
WHAT LESSONS DID YOU LEARN IN YEAR ONE AND HOW DO YOU PLAN TO BUILD ON THE EVENT MOVING FORWARD?
The main lesson from year one is that there needs to be the right balance between dwell time on the site, interactivity, immersive elements, shows and people’s enjoyment on site because this all plays into how they interact with our show.
As it’s an outdoor event, it’s vital to make sure people are taken care of and not walking in mud or puddles and that people feel warm and dry. All these factors play into how much people enjoy a trail, and how much time they spend on the trail.
We know the market is saturated so, moving forward, we need to consider how the trail can become more than just a light trail; to make sure that people see the differentiation between our brand and other brands.
WHO PROJECT MANAGED THE EVENT?
The event was originally managed by me. Dale Fletcher, project manager, took over in August when he joined the company. Between the two of us, we have delivered both the projects that we have in the UK, supported by the MK Illumination team based in Blackburn.
Up until Dale’s arrival in August, the MK Illumination team undertook all the preliminary work to get LUMAGICA St Albans up and running; the purchasing, the production, and the operations, while I focussed on the design, the ideas, and the execution of the project. Dale then took over the project management and was on site, in all weathers and over Christmas, to ensure the trail was a success.
WHICH SUPPLIERS DID YOU CONTRACT TO WORK ON THE EVENT?
The two main contractors we had were Vortex Events and Event Flooring Solutions. Flooring was essential in St Albans as the location was on a farm and we needed to make sure that people were not walking through wet grass and mud. In addition, Media Ace had the genius idea of creating sustainable bamboo tunnels, as steel has become very expensive. As well as reducing costs substantially, this “thinking out of the box” was also an environmentally friendly option.
DO YOU HAVE ANY PLANS TO EXPAND LUMAGICA TO OTHER VENUES?
Like any company, we are always looking at how we can grow and what possibilities there are in the market. We plan to expand from two to four sites in 2023 and we are looking at multiple locations.
