News Archive

Rain proves a drain on resources
TORRENTIAL rain leading up to the event left organisers of The Great Yorkshire Show with a bill for £102,000 to implement contingency plans. 
The wettest June on record meant it was difficult to prepare for the arrival of the crowds, particularly in areas such as the car parks. 
Spokesman Judy Thompson said: “The weather led to us spending an extra £102,000, which we wouldn’t have expected to spend, on contingency plans to ensure the car parks were as easily accessible as possible. 
“We put down temporary trackway for cars to drive over and widened some of the gateways. We also had a dozen tractors and ATV vehicles on standby and to overcome the problem of parts of the car parks becoming inaccessible we used neighbouring fields as an alternative. 
“Also the staff were very involved in helping stallholders to put their stands in place and we were fortunate that the site does drain well. 
“We have also spent £500,000 on drainage over the last 10 years and the investment we made has definitely stood us in good stead this year. 
“In the planning stages, we had visited the Royal Show so could learn from that. That show was a graphic picture of what problems could be caused by the weather.” 
Judy also said that although the weather did affect attendance to the show, overall the organisers were pleased with how it went. 
She added: “The gate figures were down 9.7 per cent on last year and we noticed that in the run up to the event, ticket sales were not as buoyant as usual. 
“We were lucky that we had no rain while the show was taking place and think it was a success due to good planning and the weather staying dry.” 
Fortunately, the rain stayed away and over 122,000 visitors flocked to the site of the region’s largest farm and country event in Harrogate.

Events expert Jane to lead degree course
A NEW degree in Event Management has been launched by Canterbury Christ Church University. 
The degree will be led by tourism and events expert, Jane Lovell, who organised Canterbury Cathedral's Son et Lumiere event attended by 10,000 people in 2005. 
Jane said: "Events are big business and can play a critical role in regeneration.  Locally, the first stage of the Tour de France is estimated to be worth £35 million for the Kent economy.   
“With preparation for the 2012 Olympics underway and a growing number of events, ranging from festivals to conferences, implemented each year all over the world, there's a demand for qualified events professionals. 
"Canterbury Christ Church University is an ideal place to undertake an Event Management degree as it is situated in a city with 6.3 million visitors a year and an internationally famous cathedral. Canterbury contains a World Heritage Site and is strategically viewed as the cultural capital of Kent.   
“Events underpin Canterbury's culture, they provide something different without damaging the heritage fabric.  
“In addition to the annual programme of sport, conference and cultural events, including the month-long Canterbury Festival and the Eurofair, there will be a major 'cultural Olympiad' events-led programme planned for Canterbury, to be staged from 2007-12.   
“Therefore, there has never been a greater demand for an Event Management qualification for existing and future events managers." 
 
 
 

Concerts touch down at Murrayfield
TWO spectacular concerts have taken place at Murrayfield stadium, with Star Events group completing the staging in just three days. 
The company’s Vertech stage was used for the concerts which were held to mark a five year programme of events launched by the stadium’s new promoter, Murrayfield Sport and Leisure. 
As Murrayfield is the home of Scottish international rugby, great care had to be taken of both the playing surface and the perimeter running track, with no activity allowed on the bare surface of either. 
Spokesman Pete Holdich said: “We constructed the stage on aluminium surface protection and all access was via temporary roads to the stadium’s north and south entrances. 
“In addition, a 7.5 metre x 5 metre FoH structure and camera platform was built on the hard plastic pitch covering, which had been laid for audience seating, with the FoH structure being removed directly after the show to minimise impact of the weight on the pitch.” 
There was also a height restriction of 2.9 metres at both the entrances to the stadium so all equipment had to be unloaded and later re-loaded in the car parks outside. 
Pete added: “In addition, the crane used to position the stage masts was supplied with a tyre fitter to let just enough air out of the tyres to allow it to squeeze through the entrances for both the build and strike. 
“This was a challenging build, especially the logistics of putting the stage in a different place to the usual end position.  
“But all the contractors worked seamlessly together to deliver a high quality event which proved how popular Murrayfield is as a venue. We hope to be involved in many more.” 
Performances at the concerts included the Bootleg Beatles, Bjorn Again, Katherine Jenkins and Russell Watson.

Staging specialist works around the clock at Wembley
STAGING specialists Stageco worked on five concerts at the new Wembley stadium within a very tight time frame. 
First the company supplied George Michael’s structure for the first ever concert at the new venue in June and had just a week to remove that and install a second bespoke structure for two Muse concerts. 
Following Muse, a third structure was put into the stadium for the Concert for Diana, and whilst being the same structure, it went a major transformation to be ready for Live Earth on July 7, then used again by Metallica the next day. 
According to Stageco’s project manager, Dirk de Decker, the original idea was to install the same structure for all five events.  
However, Muse changed their plans, bringing in a specially designed tour set featuring portals, towers and truss, while The Concert for Diana and Live Earth both used a Stageco “Super Roof”, but even that was reversed to accommodate the spectacular designs, to give each concert an entirely different feel. 
Dirk said: “Originally we would have set the stage up in early June and it would have stayed up until July 8. But instead we took down George Michael on June 11 and built Muse immediately after, on June 12.  
“We took that down on June 18, then went back into Wembley on June 25 for the Diana concert which used a 33 x 22 metre Stageco Superroof, holding 55 tonnes of production equipment.  
“The cantilever normally at the front of the stage was at the back of the structure to allow the stylistic Diana stage branding as part of set designers Peter Bingham’s set and added weather protection to accommodate the orchestra at the back of the stage.  
“Two teams worked 24 hour shifts to enable the whole roof to be dropped and turned around and re-raised in time for Live Earth for a set designed utilising recycled materials by Ray Winkler of Studio Fisher.” 
Stageco also provided the stages for the Live Earth concerts at the Giants’ Stadium, New York and The Arena in Hamburg.