IN DISCUSSION

THE WORLD’S GREATEST SHOW: EVENTS AND ENTERTAINMENT AT EXPO 2020 DUBAI

Tareq Ghosheh, Chief Events and Entertainment Officer at Expo 2020 Dubai.

Hosting more than 3,000 performances across a six-month period, the events and entertainment spaces at Expo 2020 are built to withstand the kind of rigorous schedule that would put even the world’s busiest arenas to shame. As well as a state-of-the-art technical setup and support from some of the best suppliers in the business, the purpose-built spaces benefit from an expert in-house technical team, charged with providing outstanding facilities and support to enable world-class shows to take place at Expo 2020 day after day. Tareq Ghosheh, Chief Events and Entertainment Officer at Expo 2020, is the man charged with overseeing all these elements and more. Here, he shares some insights from his journey so far, talks about the inner workings of Expo’s events and entertainment offering and speculates on the kind of legacy that Expo 2020 will leave for the UAE.

What are the main events and entertainment areas inside Expo 2020 Dubai?

The main performance area is Al Wasl, which hosted the Opening Ceremony and will host the Closing Ceremony. It also hosts a daytime show called ‘music in the garden’, as well as a range of nightly shows. Then we have Jubilee Stage, which is a rock ’n’ roll, music festival-style stage, while the Dubai Millennium Amphitheatre (DMA) is more suited for theatre and dance. In addition to these, we have three smaller district stages, designed to accommodate smaller performances with fewer on-stage performers. We also have an enclosed hall in the exhibition centre, which is great for conferences. Further to that, most of the public areas across the site are spaces for roving and musical acts.

How important was it to pick the best international and local suppliers to help deliver the project?

This is not a one-company kind of project. We worked incredibly hard to ensure that we brought on the right people for sound, lighting, projection, technical design, staging and so on. These suppliers are the very best in the world, who have helped us design the performance and entertainment areas in the best way possible. One thing that we’re very proud of – and we think this could be the first time it has ever happened to this extent – is that we have some of the best technical and production houses in the world working together all under one roof for a prolonged period during the planning, build and execution stages of Expo 2020.

How did you take the project from concept to creation?

The concept started from Al Wasl – which was originally an urban garden – and grew from there across all the other venues across the site. The model for Al Wasl was expanded throughout the site in April 2020, so all the hard work we did in those initial stages started to pay off when we started rolling it to the other venues. Of course, there have been ups and downs and plenty of challenges throughout the process, but we sit on the management of the dayto-day operations, and we guarantee that we always learn from our mistakes and maintain the integrity of the delivery throughout. I think this is very visible in the product that we are delivering now on a day-today basis.

What is your process when putting a project out to tender?

We use something we call the 80/20 model. What this means is that whenever we float any RFP, we ensure that we own 20% of the process. The first 10% is the creative conceptualisation, the technical validation, the operational optimisation, and the financial management. We give this to the production company for them to come up with a creative treatment and operational execution plan. We work with them hand in hand until the last 10%, which includes the excellence in delivery – it’s at this point that we jump back into the driving seat to ensure that what they are delivering is in accordance with what we planned and what we agreed throughout the process. This is flipped completely when you look at it from a production and a technical point of view, where we own 80% and the supplier provides 20%. That guarantees a seamless delivery from a technical point of view, and as crews come in and out, the house team knows the landscape and the ins and outs of all the venues and the setup.

How are the performance areas set up to host such a huge number of performances back-to-back, with limited changeover times?

When you are operating in a living ecosystem like this, it’s vital to ensure that you can provide world-class entertainment on a continuous basis, with very little provision for rehearsals or changeovers. To achieve this, all our events and entertainment spaces are very different from what you would typically find on a regular house system. We looked at the components that we would need not only to increase efficiency and available performance time, but also to maintain the integrity of the technical delivery and the ‘wow-factor’ of the

Right: Al Wasl is the heart of Expo 2020.

Below: The DMA Stage is geared towards theatre and dance productions.

productions. Most of the venues, starting from Al Wasl, require minimal to no overlay to run a world-class event. We have a state-of-the-art technical system in place, supported by some of the best companies in the world including Agora, Nuemann&Müller and others. Then we have our in-house production team at Expo, which helps to keep together the three vital components – productions, show ops and technical – which will facilitate any creative execution in any of these fields. We will have more than 3,000 activations from international participants alone across our events spaces, which is a massive undertaking. So far, it’s working very well.

What have your biggest challenges been so far?

Every day is a challenge, but one thing that we are particularly pleased with is that we came into a space that was designed by architects rather than event management consultants, and we have been able to turn it into an event-friendly setup that is capable of hosting world-class events with minimal disruption to what was already in place. We created back of house and logistics spaces that work for us and for the incoming acts, and we made sure that all the events and entertainment areas serve their intended purpose.

What aspects of the project are you most satisfied with?

The level of pride in the country because of the quality of the delivery is extremely promising across the board, from top to bottom. We hope that we maintain that level and continue to meet the expectations of the leadership, to continue promoting the same narrative that Dubai and the UAE embodies in everything it does. We always push the limits, and we never give up.

What will the legacy of Expo 2020 be?

The legacy is still in the making. Whatever was planned pre-COVID, needs to alter post-COVID. However, we managed to put several landmarks on the map, which are now global landmarks that the world will look at and continue to be wowed by, day in, day out. I’m sure that the leadership has a plan for this to happen and for this incredible space to continue to be a part of the story of Dubai and another representation of how you can get extraordinary things done, even in extraordinary situations like the pandemic. This has been a beautiful journey and I can’t wait to see where it takes us.

www.expo2020dubai.com