GLOBAL CITIZEN

ONE EVENT, WORLDWIDE

As Paris made its Global Citizen début, Stageco played a key role in one of the planet’s most significant live events since Live Aid...

STAGEC O FRANCE

For the first time since its parent festival was founded in 2012, the multi-national Global Citizen Live concert saw Paris join with Lagos, London, Los Angeles, New York, Rio de Janeiro, Seoul, Bombay, Sydney and other major cities across six continents in a massive, 24-hour fight against climate change and worldwide poverty on September 25th.

Stageco was delighted to be onboard for the Paris début – located close to the Eiffel Tower in the long and narrow green space of the Champ-de-Mars – and Tom Bilsen managed the staging portion of the project from Tildonk.

Under crew chief Patrik Vonckx, a total of 11 supervisors tipped 15 trailers of equipment on September 14th and began the show build, eventually loading out within two days of the

event. Vonckx and Bilsen liaised with site manager and technical director Stéphane Nicolas of ULTD Evenements throughout the entire project. (Across the Atlantic, Stageco US supplied the New York stage; other cities were organised on a smaller scale.)

The Paris stage replicated the event’s prominent red ‘doughnut’ branding as scenic design partner Stufish echoed Global Citizen’s mission by working only with materials that were either recyclable, made from recycled materials or would have a second life.

In line with COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, the live audience was capped at 15,000, all of whom were awarded their free places via a ticket lottery on the globalcitizen.org website. The lucky winners enjoyed stellar performances from Ed Sheeran, Sir Elton John, Black Eyed Peas, Christine and the Queens, Doja Cat, Måneskin, and special guest performances by Angélique Kidjo, Charlie Puth, and Fatma Said, while TV viewers numbered millions.

Claimed by many as the most significant international live music event since Live Aid, Global Citizen Live 2021 raised $US1.1bn in commitments and pledges to fight extreme poverty. Through the event, notable donations included the planting of 157m trees, over 60m COVID vaccines for developing countries, and €140m in food security, as pledged by the European Commission’s president Ursula von der Leyen.