BANG ON

Back with a bang

Identity delivered London’s New Year’s Eve fireworks display, the first in three years to feature large-scale crowds. Here, the agency talks about its involvement in the project and year one of its four-year contract to produce the world-class event

More than 100,000 ticketholders ushered in the New Year on the banks of the River Thames and watched the capital’s biggest show. London’s New Year’s Eve fireworks display, organised by the Mayor of London, welcomed crowds to watch the spectacle which featured 12,000 fireworks and 400 drones. It was the first time in three years that large crowds had been allowed to gather to watch the world-class event, which sent a message of love to those watching around the globe.

Identity, the events agency, won the tender to deliver the event. It pitched for the work in March 2022 with a “With Love from London” theme and was awarded a four-year contract in July.

Hannah Clark, project director at Identity, joined the agency from Limelight Sports in mid-August. She knew that her role would involve her diving in at the deep end and got stuck into the planning as soon as she started.

Clark said: “I have worked at Limelight Sports and have delivered events such as the Royal Parks Half Marathon and London Triathlon. Plus, I led on the delivery of the road race events at London 2012, so I was particularly familiar with all stakeholders involved and the event’s footprint.”

Identity called on the expertise of event professionals who had worked on the event under Jack Morton. For example, Mike Kent was engaged as operations director, and worked alongside Clark and her team – including Jamie Beeson, show producer, Simon Dunnell, exec project director, and Angela Honeyman, production manager – to deliver the creative vision of Dan Colborne, exec creative director at Identity. Colborne said: “The With Love from London theme remained true and dialled into all the Greater London Authority’s (GLA) campaigns. It was a strong brief and the GLA kept referring to our pitch. The story of love and passion and an outpouring of love for the world was key.”

Identity worked in close collaboration with the GLA and was very aware that the event had not taken place as a ticketed event since 2019. The 2019 event was considered a successful year and used it as a template for 2023. However, Clark and the Identity team could not make assumptions that everything was the same. Businesses, the landscape, and crowd behaviour have all changed in the last three years.

UNMISSABLE MOMENTS

Michael Gietzen, managing director of Identity, said that the event enabled Identity to show off its capabilities in full colour. He explained: “Producing London’s New Year’s fireworks and celebrations has been a personal ambition of mine for some time. It is the ultimate event of unmissable moments – 12 minutes of extravaganza to be precise – at one of the biggest celebrations of its kind in the world. What better way is there to showcase Identity’s talent, creative expertise, and project management capabilities than producing an event of this magnitude. The brightest, loudest, and in some ways a very poignant event shared with hundreds of thousands in people and millions more online and TV. It allowed us to ‘show off’ our capabilities and talent in full colour! This makes impact and certainly provides ‘cut through’ in the events sector!”

EVENT NARRATIVE

Drones helped count down to the new year before Big Ben’s famous bongs rang out to begin the 12-minute celebration. The display celebrated the Lionesses winning the UEFA Women’s Euro 2022, marked 50 years of Pride, sent a message of support to Ukraine, and honoured the late Queen Elizabeth II and His Majesty King Charles III. In fact, the show paid tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth II, featuring a voice recording from Her Majesty and words from Dame Judi Dench, and honoured King Charles III, together with a message from His Majesty about the need to preserve our planet’s future.

The death of Queen Elizabeth II changed the event’s narrative and course of direction. The story of love changed. There was a huge desire to honour Her Majesty. It was decided that drones would be launched from Horseguards Parade. No ticketholders were permitted into this area, which was “designed for broadcast only”.

“We didn’t want the drones to be miles away from the central show,” explained Clark. “We wanted them to be connected to what we were doing on the river. The Mayor of London was keen for the drones to be included as they bring an additional wow factor.”

Horseguards Parade was chosen as a suitable location because of its proximity to the Thames and its connection to the Queen. Colborne continued: “Because the drones launched from a different location, we could be more thoughtful and respectful. The drone imagery allowed us to include a ‘calmer’ section into the event and allowed it to be a different show.”

RESPECTFUL SHOW

The spectacular consisted of three acts, which focused on reflection, honour, and celebration. Colborne described the show as “very graphic” with simple colours, architectural shapes, and a lot of energy.

The show included 522 light fixings, 12,000 fireworks from Titanium Fireworks and 400 drones from Celestial, with lighting designed by Tim Routledge and music directed by Kojo Samuel, both responsible for Stormzy’s iconic Glastonbury headline set. More than 25 tonnes of equipment is used to rig the pyrotechnic effects, using 18 kilometres of cable and wire.

“We weren’t afraid to have a change of pace,” added Colborne. “We went from one story and focus in one message and then changed the pace. We fired one single shell, which provided a pause and a moment of reflection and then we were able to move on.”

Identity worked with Buckingham Palace to source quotes from both the late Queen Elizabeth II and His Majesty King Charles III. The agency wished to deliver a respectful show with integrity.

Clark commented: “We were honoured and proud to support the GLA in the delivery of London’s biggest New Year’s Eve show, the first time Identity has had the privilege of delivering this important event.”

Now, the agency’s attention has turned to 2024. Colborne concluded: “There are lots of positives to take forward. There are lots of debriefs happening and we need to start thinking about our theme. I am sure that the Coronation and Eurovision will come into it, but the show will always be about London, and we will find ways to use colour, light, and energy. I would like the event to be more theatrical, but first we have to work out what the story will be.”

SUPPLIERS LIST

Fireworks – Titanium Fireworks Drones – Celestial Audio/Sound – On The Sly Audio Production and Delta Live Lighting/Rigging – Neg Earth Lights Barriers/Fencing – Sunbelt Rentals and Entertee VMS and plant – Sunbelt Rentals Portable buildings – Qdos Power – Power Logistics Control room – Controlled Events Toilets – PTL and A1 Crew – Five Star Marquees – Key Structures Security/Stewarding – Showsec, Five Star, Provide SESS, and MJ Events Trucking – KB Event Trucking Radio Comms & CCTV – Pylon One

Pylon One was privileged to be appointed by Identity, the new lead agency for the event, to deliver a fully integrated communications infrastructure for London’s New Year’s Eve celebrations.

Since 2016, Pylon One has been involved in the delivery of connectivity to production, back of house areas, and the event leadership team (ELT) as well as ticket offices across London’s New Year’s Eve celebrations.

This year, Pylon One was given an extended brief to not only provide sitewide IT infrastructure but also to provide integrated communications and CCTV systems ensuring both a safe visitor

Say hello to 2023 as well as stakeholders from the emergency services, local authorities, and other agencies, working together to ensure the safe delivery of the event. Site-wide communications infrastructure from Pylon One was key to the successful delivery of London’s New Year’s Eve celebrations One of the key elements of the network build was the Point to Point Siklu Millimeter Wave Microwave links that were installed on rooftops of iconic buildings, such as Elizabeth environment and the connectivity for Tower [Big Ben], Royal Festival Hall, Charing production teams, ticketing, lighting, Cross Station, and a further eight buildings sound, and pyrotechnics to ensure a along and around the River Thames. successful event. Beyond the communication channels This included a comprehensive CCTV that utilised the network were 30 highenvironment and the provision of more than specification PTZ cameras, which enabled the 800 handheld radios to support the wider ELT to have insight into crowd movements supply chain and those who were ensuring across a large area of central London. The the safe movement and stewardship of more CCTV cameras provided views of Parliament than 100,000 event ticketholders. Square, Whitehall, The Mall, Horse Guards At the centre of operations was the event Parade, Trafalgar Square, and much of the control room, based in Whitehall Gardens Embankment, as well as the bridges crossing on Victoria Embankment. This temporary the Thames to the South Bank. structure was home to the ELT, which Pylon One was involved in the initial consisted of the event management teams, production meetings in July 2022. Months of meticulous planning followed alongside many site visits and numerous negotiations with landlords/stakeholders for rooftop access culminated in Pylon One technicians being on site from early December for the initial installation and then again, after the Christmas break, from December 27 through to the beginning of January. Millions of television viewers across the globe and the crowd on the banks of the Thames were treated to a spectacular show! Pylon One has been appointed to deliver consultancy, connectivity, and supporting communications services to events, including world leader summits, COP26, London New Year’s Eve celebrations, The Platinum Jubilee Pageant, Sibos, Mobile World Congress, Cannes Lions, and many more. For all enquiries regarding temporary Internet, Wi-Fi, CCTV, and communications, contact Mike Lang. Email mike@pylonone.com, call 01494 911170, or visit www.pylonone.com