Festa Italiana 2022
If you had an incredible Neapolitan pizza in one hand and a tangy Limoncello spritz in the other, nodding along to “We No Speak Americano” under the bank holiday weekend sun, then you must have been at Festa Italiana along with Tom, Hannah and me, Evelina, from the Sundae press and social teams.
Entering the grounds of the UK’s biggest Italian festival felt like a spontaneous trip to Italy and it was our mission to take all Festa social media followers and members of the Manchester press along for the ride! From authentic Italian street food and drink, to traditional music and dance sessions, live cooking demos and pasta-making classes, Manchester’s Cathedral Gardens were transformed into a lively Festival Piazza.
Brought to you by the team behind Manchester’s family run favourite Salvi’s, Festa Italiana is now in its fifth year! It is inspired by the city’s very own Italian community and traditional Italian festivals (with a healthy sprinkling of Mancunian charm), and caters to everyone looking to experience the best of Italy on their doorstep.
We got to sharpen our cooking skills thanks to some of the Maestri of Italian cuisine who performed a culinary spectacle for the awestruck crowds. Fronted by Salvi’s owner and Festa head honcho Maurizio Cecco, accompanied by daughter-in-chef, Sienna, the live cookery demos featured free classes from legendary chefs Gennaro Contaldo, Giancarlo Caldesi and Aldo Zilli, leaving no belly rumbling and no parmesan ungrated.
While Aldo reminisced about locking Prince Edward in his restaurant back in his “heyday” (and performed a demo of cooking fish the Italian way), Great British Bake Off 2021 winner and ex-engineer Giuseppe Dell’Anno led those of all abilities through the precise science of baking!.
Food was the heart of it all, and many smiling Festa-goers even received an impromptu live performance by celebrity chef Gennaro Contaldo, alongside Italian band Compagnia SoleLuna on the festival’s main stage!.
The crowd of happy faces radiated togetherness. We welcomed members of the press and content creators to Manchester’s “Little Italy” for a chance to immerse themselves in the spirit of Italian celebration. Calorosa, as singer Lina described it – a hearty atmosphere, spreading through the thousands of people enjoying themselves on the festival grounds.
The most curious faces were next to a big table under the shade of the trees, where pastaia (aka: pasta-making specialist) Carmela Sereno Hayes taught the smallest of cooks how to make their very own pasta from scratch.
“It’s the easiest thing ever!” says Maurizio, while we sweat over a piece of farfalle and the children at Gennaro Contaldo’s masterclass folded a batch of ravioli.
Carmela and Maurizio also cooked up the magnifico feast for the exclusive chef table dinner, which hosted Festa’s special guests over hearty authentic meals, served over the finest Italian wines in conversation with the award-winning authors and chefs. Hearts and bellies were filled.
The Festa stage showcased a variety of performers, lifting the crowd off their feet and into the spirit of Italian celebration. People spun in circles holding hands, while children and adults alike learned how to perform traditional Italian dances.
If you ever wondered why the festival spans over three days, then the answer is: So you have enough time to eat all the cannoli, arancini, gelato, pizza, pasta and the rest of the mouth-watering authentic Italian food the festival has to offer (including a few giant cheese wheels)!
We love working on the Festa Italiana! Apart from enjoying a well-deserved cacio e pepe, we secured lots of brilliant pieces of national and regional coverage over a spread of online, print and broadcast media outlets such as The i, BBC Radio Manchester, iNews, Manchester Evening News, Time Out, Creative Tourist, Manchester’s Finest, The Manc, About Manchester, and many more!
Leading our social media campaign with live updates of all the exciting moments on the grid and stories, collaborations with the chefs and vendors and capturing the Festa spirit on Reels, we managed to reach over 200k accounts over all social media channels, cooking up a storm of positive engagement and hundreds of new followers!
In the words of none other than Gennaro Contaldo himself, “meravigliosa”!
(translation: marvellous)
Evelina x
Vortex Russell Maliphant
We’ve been super busy behind the scenes at Sundae HQ working on a very exciting new project over the last few months, and we’re thrilled to finally be able to reveal the details of this brilliant new show that we’re so happy to be a part of!…
Critically acclaimed, Olivier award winning, Russell Maliphant Dance Company has very recently announced a huge nationwide tour for its brand new project Vortex, from esteemed director and choreographer Russell Maliphant, and we are utterly delighted to be working alongside RMDC to deliver the launch of the major UK national tour.
We had the absolute pleasure of working with Russell Maliphant Dance Company back in 2019, working closely with RMDC’s wonderful team on Russell’s last project Silent Lines, which toured the UK to critical acclaim and received plaudits and national praise from the likes of The Telegraph, The Guardian, and the Evening Standard.
We’re so excited to be working closely with the RMDC team once again, alongside the press and marketing representatives of each venue, to deliver regional engagement and national impact for the UK wide tour, and to ensure that maximum exposure is achieved across the tour, such as this brilliant piece of work deserves!
The national tour, which will see Russell Maliphant Dance Company perform in some of the UK’s finest venues, will premiere on the 30th of September 2022 at DanceEast Ipswich, where the company is in residence. The tour will run through to June 2023 featuring dates in London, Nottingham, Chester, Kent, Colchester, Huddersfield, Bracknell, Lancaster, Worthing, plus more to be announced.
Inspired by masters of the twentieth-century, Russell Maliphant’s unrivalled, beautiful work is characterised by a unique approach to flow and energy and an ongoing exploration of the relationship between movement, light and music. Influenced by the works of Jackson Pollock and abstract expressionism, with elements of nature, pouring to the floor, and a large steel structure, Maliphant paints his own interpretation with movement, light, and shadow to create a visually rich journey for new project Vortex, with the exceptional dancers of RMDC.
We’re also delighted to work alongside RMDC to continue to raise the profile and awareness of the Dance Encounter Fund, a programme that was recently launched together with partners the Victoria Wood Foundation and The Foyle Foundation. Throughout the Vortex tour, the Dance Encounter Fund will offer one thousand free tickets to young people aged 14 – 25 across the UK, enabling the experience and engagement with live performance to become a reality for diverse young people, where ticket cost may ordinarily act as a barrier.
Working with the team at Russell Maliphant Dance Company on the extraordinary new project Vortex fills us with great pride and excitement, and we cannot wait to attend the premiere show at DanceEast Ipswich this September!
Charlotte x
Festival of Libraries 2022
As the long awaited sunshine finally beamed upon Manchester, team Sundae has been busy creating the buzz around the return of Manchester UNESCO City of Literature’s annual Festival of Libraries.
Running for five days in June, the festival celebrates Greater Manchester’s 133 libraries and their librarians with a varied and vibrant programme; the perfect opportunity for me to explore some of the very best ones across the city!
Last year, Manchester changed the game by investing in its libraries as an essential resource. Festival of Libraries was born as an yearly commemoration of the promise, made by the city and the Art Council of England, to build that commitment and celebrate libraries as sanctuaries and culture hubs.
Being an avid fan of all things cultural, I was spoiled for choice with over 90 live events, showcasing a vast selection of digital art commissions, exhibitions, dance, performance, panel talks and walking tours.
Fronted by ambassador, author Lemn Sissay OBE himself, the festival captured the wise words of several crowd-favourite library-loving creatives. Actress and activist Julie Hesmondhalgh, modern restorer and TV presenter Jay Blades, historian Greg Jenner, broadcaster Mike Sweeney, poet Jackie Kay and artist Abigail Reynolds all spoke on the importance of libraries in today’s society as part of Inspired By Libraries.
Growing up in a little town in my native Bulgaria, the small local library played a huge part in my formative years so now, more than ever, I understand the importance such institutions hold in raising inspired new generations. So the bustling halls of Manchester Central Library were the place to be on a busy Thursday afternoon.
Meeting Lemn Sissay was nothing short of inspiring, as he laughed with the crowd and talked on why libraries need to be treasured by society, as mentioned in his BBC Radio Manchester interview, and his advice to the youngest of poets, wishing to follow in his footsteps:
“Above all things, try to be a good person,” he said, while children in the front rows listened with interest and awe.
Indeed, the festival had something for everyone! Even though I might be a full-grown adult, my personal family-friendly highlight might just have been Look for a Book – a mass book hunt which saw Greater Manchester’s libraries planting 500 copies of Sir Lenny Henry’s new book, The Boy With Wings, for children all around the city’s 10 boroughs to find!
The Festival touched on crucial matters like wellbeing with events like Shared Group Readings and Relax in the Library, showing that libraries can also be a place of peace. It also explored the diversity Manchester has to offer with the brilliant Migrant Voices Takeover, which saw fascinating performances by local community musicians from Olympias Music Foundation stir up a brilliant mixture of music, dance and conversation around migration.
Manchester Central Library also took part of the Happy, Safe and Free art trail, which asked of local school kids to create an artwork on what makes them happy, safe and free, which was then folded into little boats or shredded into pieces and spread around the city in commemoration of the hardships refugees endure in the wake of World Refugee Week 2022. The festival also dedicated events to diversity, local communities, history, inclusivity, and more topics society can easily tackle with the help of libraries.
During the press campaign we worked along with the amazing festival organisers to ensure the news was spread far and wide. Some national coverage highlights included The Bookseller and Time Out, while local outlets such as Creative Tourist, Manchester Wire, and About Manchester, together with BBC Radio Manchester, helped us give FoL the love it deserves, and we really cannot wait for next year!
Evelina x
Sounds From The Other City 2022
It’s official, festival season is back (!), and last weekend we well and truly kicked off the season in style attending Salford’s very own Sounds From The Other City, which took place on a sunny Sunday during the early May bank holiday weekend.
As a newbie to Greater Manchester, I’ve been so eager to attend my first festival as an official resident of the North West and explore all that Salford has to offer. As an avid live-music fan, with a working background in music, I was really intrigued by the vast amount of independent venues that Salford has on offer across Chapel Street and beyond.
Sounds From The Other City has no less than 22 stages to explore, with over 125 eclectic, enticing acts performing across the event…and that’s just the live music. Dotted around the streets of Salford you will also find live dance performers, art installations, and my personal favourite, the Compact Disco group, a travelling discotheque complete with an oversized disco ball created from discarded CDs and disco lights projecting from all angles. There is also a total of 10 different food sites to choose from, including Porta’s (Salford’s finest tapas bar) seriously delicious chorizo BBQ, and Ohh La La’s Loaded Fries van (I devoured the truffle & parmesan fries, requesting extra truffle, obviously). To say we had a jam-packed day ahead of us would be an understatement.
Once on site, with our SFTOC wristbands on one hand and drink in the other, we headed for the Regent Trading Estate marquee to catch dream team Gracie T & Vindya. The area was packing out very quickly, with Salford’s young music crowd, small children sporting huge ear defenders, and dogs (yes, even dogs) all in attendance, ready to enjoy the bank holiday festivities.
We were then able to catch a glimpse of Mali Hayes, who graced us with her dreamy vocals, before making our way down to Fivefourstudios where we were set to host the official press event for the festival. Welcoming attendees to the stylish Fivefourstudios bar, we were delighted to be joined by the likes of BBC Radio 6 Music, the Arts Council, and The Manc.
Once our press event had wrapped, it was time to enjoy some more live music. We headed over to St Philip’s Church to catch Freya Beer (there’s always something really quite enchanting about watching a live performance in such a grand venue) and ended our night back at the Regent Trading Estate to catch the glorious Lovescene perform to a heaving venue full of elated fans, who threw flowers onto the stage in adoration.
We couldn’t leave without one last visit to the Trading Estate marquee for our final dance-off. Bank Holiday Monday came as a total blessing, giving our feet the opportunity to recover!
In the lead up to the festival, we had the pleasure of working alongside the ultra-talented organisers, as we announced this years’ sterling line-up to press. As anticipated, the announcement received a hugely positive response, with outlets such as DIY Magazine, New! Magazine, and BBC Introducing (to name a few) showing their support for the event. The Manc also shared this ultra-fantastical promo video across their socials in the run up to the festival.
Bring on SFTOC 2023!
Charlotte x
Image Credit: Breige Cobane and Charlie Watkinson
Prima drops first full-length album ‘Scandalous’
Midication Recordings’ artist Prima is back with her first full-length project Scandalous; a truly accomplished collection of top tier R&B coming straight out of Manchester, and we at Sundae looked after the full communications campaign for the release.
Dropping just yesterday, Scandalous is 100% independent, 100% authentic and 100% Mancunian; Prima’s soft and silky vocals effortlessly deliver raw and relatable lyrics, taking us on a strong young female’s journey of self-discovery, self-love and the inevitable ups and downs of the hectic, emotional roller coaster we call life.
Fully produced by our friend JSD, Head Honcho at Midication, this is an album to get lost and found in; it will make you question yourself, your relationships, what it all means, and all-the-while hitting you in the gut with a soul-filled reminder of why we fall in love in the first place.
Prima is at the forefront of Manchester’s burgeoning R&B movement; she joined Midication in the label’s very early days and has since been making huge waves with tracks featuring on PrettyLittleThing’s (PLT) ad campaigns with Molly-Mae Hague and Tamara Francesconi, with a very special project alongside the global fashion giant soon to be announced.
She has amassed hundreds of thousands of streams on Spotify and the Manchester singer has also performed on the BBC Music Introducing stage at Reading and Leeds Festival, been playlisted by Rinse FM, and has seen the music video for her track ‘100’ premiere on Earmilk, as well as an artist feature on DJ Ace’s BBC Radio 1 Xtra show, and one of her songs being handed the ‘Track of the Week’ title on BBC Radio 1.
We really couldn’t wait to share the news of this outstanding album, and our excitement was more than matched by Manchester’s media with brilliant coverage appearing in Manchester World, The Manc, The Manc Audio, Manchester’s Finest, About Manchester and Unlock Manchester
The future is set to be incredibly exciting for Prima, JSD and the full team at Midication Recordings… and we cannot wait to see what happens next.
Scandalous is available on all platforms now and you can catch Prima at Beehouse, Deansgate Locks, Manchester on Sat 21st May for her album live launch show, tickets will be on sale soon.
Tom x
Live and direct from London Remixed Festival
We’ve just left the opening night of London Remixed Festival and we’re mopping our party perspiring brows so we can tell you all about it… What. A. Night.
Everyone’s noticed a certain energy in the room at gigs at the moment, right? The palpable happiness and excitement as music fans are elated to be able to witness live performance first hand, once again? Well, tonight has definitely not been an exception; the atmosphere was electric, the venue was jam-packed and everyone in attendance was well up for losing themselves in the music.
The evening has been dedicated to a celebration of 25 years of Continental Drifts with a brass band spectacular including sets from DJ Chris Tofu, DJ Dials Davis, Intergalactic Brasstronauts, London Brass All Stars, New Car Smell, as well as the launch of Festival Lab, a new stage curated by a group of producers from its just-as-new course of creatives.
It brings us all at team Sundae so much joy to welcome London Remixed back with a full live line-up at Rich Mix Arts Centre and, after a year spent in virtual reality, the simply incredible members of the Festival team have challenged themselves to kick global London into the future with a live music culture clash by a wealth of artists and partners from around the world… and something is telling us that they will succeed!
The two-day indoor festival is showcasing over 25 cutting edge bands and DJs from a range of cultures offering up the best in Latin Grooves, African Rhythms, Tropical Bass, Vintage-Remix, Desert Remix, Balkan Beats, Urban Roots, Acoustic Soundclash and Brass Band Remix, as well as offering creativity, fun and madness, complete with a buzzing atmosphere, but without the mud, rain or hassle of camping.
As clients and communications campaigns go, Remixed is well and truly up there with our faves due to the variety of media that the all encompassing programme allows us to engage; we’ve seen amazing support in the form of previews, features, interviews and listings from DESIblitz, London Live, London TV Online, Hackney Gazette, East London Advertiser, Rhythm Passport, BBC Radio London, BBC Asian Network, Time Out London, The Londonist and The Weekly Gleaner, amongst others.
The Continental Drifts Festival Lab programme is designed to support the next generation of event producers. Over 12 weeks, the young producers learn all about production, programming, marketing, sponsorship and audience development, culminating in them planning their own programme of activity tonight at the festival under the collective title, The Vybe Engyneerz.
Such is the innovative nature of the programme, it has attracted the attention of our friends at Total Production International and Access All Areas, who are keen to find out more about it and how it is at the forefront of securing the future of music festival production in the UK following the uncertain time we have all been through. The Vybe Engyneerz will be having interviews with both publications next week.
Right now, we’re all off for a disco nap because tomorrow will see four incredible stages filled with an eclectic selection of live acts, performers and DJs playing music from around the world meeting the 21st Century; from Future Arabic music, African, Latin remix all the way to new UK folk and very funky DJ’s, with sets from Daytimers, James Riley & Rooftop Assembly and Mina & Bryte, plus LOADS more.
We’ll catch you in the dance x
ATG’s Swansea Arena launches with Royal Blood and a show-stopping visual art project
Well, as weeks go… this one has been pretty special! We have just returned from beautiful, sunny Swansea, where Royal Blood became the first music act to play as part of Swansea Arena’s launch season, in a special event ahead of their biggest European tour to date.
The brand-new Arena is simply stunning and Royal Blood were the perfect opening act; they showcased the state-of-the-art technical and sound capabilities with an electrifying show that very nearly blew the roof off the place as the packed crowd partied the night away.
We had some lovely support from the national and regional media with gig reviewers from The Times, The Express, Classic Rock Magazine, Total Production International, Wales Online, South Wales Evening Post, Wales 247 and Buzz Magazine all heading along to take in the performance and, naturally, everything that the venue has to offer.
It was also incredible to see ‘From Swansea, With Love’, a show-stopping visual art project featuring words of love and welcome from well-known musicians, actors, comedians and presenters from Swansea and beyond, that we put together with our friends at Instruct Studio, popping up around the city, to celebrate its amazing redevelopment and mark the opening of the Arena which is at the centre of the £135m Copr Bay development.
Beautiful phrases, celebrating Abertawe and its music, sunshine, art, creativity, memories and, of course, the gilt edged coastline, have been contributed by Cerys Matthews, Keith Allen, Luke Evans, Michael Sheen, Rachel K Collier and, friend of the venue, Huw Stephens.
The visual art appears on poster sites, digital screens and hoardings across the city, in addition to screens at Swansea Arena and two hand painted murals from Swansea’s own, Fresh Creative.
Its launch also garnered huge press support on a national and regional level with coverage appearing in The Independent, Evening Standard, Wales Online, ITV.com and hundreds more news titles from around the UK, while Broadway and Hollywood’s Luke Evans was posting about it live on the day, and Cerys Matthews and Rachel K Collier also offered some lovely social media support.
We were over in Swansea for just a few days but we even had time to make a film with Huw Stephens which sees him give us a guided tour of the brand new Arena and the visual art project…
Our friendship with the lovely folk at ATG goes back a number of years now and we have been working on the communications campaign around the development of Swansea Arena for nearly four of them… we just can’t wait to see what the future holds for this game changing entertainment venue and the good people of South Wales!
Tom x
Truly Extraordinary Portraits
Over the last few months, we’ve had the pleasure of working with Chatterbox and the BBC to support the campaign for Extraordinary Portraits, which launched on BBC One and iPlayer Arts in February.
It’s an absolutely stunning art series which matches real people with extraordinary stories to a selection of portrait makers, who are challenged to turn their experiences into compelling portraits.
Tonight’s episode sees Kelvin Okafor, a hyperreal artist who specialises in pencil portraits, draw Catrin Pugh, a survivor of a bus crash that left her with burns across 95 percent of her body. Kelvin goes to Wales and meets Catrin’s family and speaks to them about how they supported her during her physical and mental recovery. Kelvin describes Catrin as the phoenix that rose from the ashes. We get to see if, after 650 hours of work, Catrin is prepared to see every detail of herself through his eyes.
Kelvin is a hyper-realistic portrait artist, drawing both regular people and celebs. In 2017, he became the first black artist to be permanently exhibited in the House of Commons with his pencil portrait of Bernie Grant. He has drawn model Winnie Harlow, portraying her skin condition vitiligo and now provides a course in hyper-realistic art.
We managed to place a brilliant interview feature with Kelvin in The British Blacklist if you’d like an interesting read before catching the episode later on.
Tom x
Image Credit: BBC / Chatterbox / Robert-Douglas & Tom Grancia
After 47 years, and a £28m restoration, Stockton Globe is officially open!
This week, Stockton Globe held its official opening, after 47 years closed and a £28 million restoration, welcoming legendary former Northern Echo photographer Ian Wright as guest of honour.
Having been part of the iconic venue’s journey over the past four years, and, through necessity, holding many of the venue’s milestones online, this is a moment in history we have been looking forward to greatly.
The official opening saw His Royal Highness The Duke of Gloucester meet Ian, along with representatives from the Globe’s operators Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG) and Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council, which led the restoration project, before unveiling a commemorative plaque.
Hours later, Ian hosted an intimate ‘audience with’ event, in which he talked through the moments in history he experienced in his time shooting at the Globe from the age of 15, led by the exclusive images that kick-started his illustrious career.
At the event, Ian shared a wealth of stories and showed some never before published images of the likes of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Cliff Richard, Cilla Black, Frank Sinatra Jr, Tom Jones, The Kinks, Chubby Checker, Shirley Bassey, Ben E. King, Dave Clark and more, some of which are now part of a permanent exhibition on the walls of the newly restored Globe.
Ian captured some monumental moments while at Stockton Globe; his collection takes in the reactions of The Beatles when they were told JFK had been assassinated in Dallas, and Ian also had a camera in his hand when Mick Jagger was cut above the eye by a coin whizzed at the stage by a frenetic crowd, capturing both Mick on stage and the crowd itself.
Throughout the Swinging ‘60s, Ian photographed a who’s who of emerging icons at Stockton Globe before going on to work at The Sunday Times in London. His incredible photography then led to him working in The Times’ New York office, as well as with BBC Radio Times.
We managed the press and social media for the event and needless to say, Ian’s visit, his incredible story and his vault of work attracted much attention from the press with interviews in national outlets such as BBC News and the Daily Express, as well as in regional broadcast outlets BBC Look North and BBC Radio Tees. There was also a wealth of support from Yahoo UK, Yahoo Australia, MSN, Teesside Live, NE Volume, Darlington & Stockton Times, Stockton & Billingham Life, the Northern Echo and the Evening Gazette.
The official opening came hot on the heels of the venue’s first live event, and we were on the ground managing journalist attendance and live socials, as Stockton Globe welcomed McFly a special one off show on its newly restored iconic stage. Legendary Observer photographer Gary Calton’s reportage shoot of this historic moment will join Ian’s collection on the walls of the Globe.
The support for this moment from the national and regional media was also vast, with pieces appearing in the Daily Telegraph, The Stage, ITV.com, Stereoboard, Access All Areas, Total Production International, Teesside Live, the Evening Gazette, Stockton & Billingham Life, Insider, NE Volume, BBC Look North and TFM, while we also placed interviews with the band with BBC Radio Tees and the Northern Echo.
Excitement was at fever pitch for followers of the social channels we’ve spent the last year building a community with, and we were delighted with the overwhelmingly positive reaction from fans and local residents to news of McFly playing the opening show.
Right in the thick of the action, we provided live coverage of the phenomenal show on Instagram Stories, filming exclusive behind-the-scenes content with the band and support act, Chinchilla. With so much brilliant content, over the following week we were able to roll out several videos and photos looking back on the night, which were a huge hit with fans new and old.
This historic venue has been a huge part of our lives for the last four years and we are proud to celebrate its glittering history, and to be a part of its bright future.
Photos by Gary Calton
Introducing Swansea Arena with Huw Stephens
As part of our work with Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG), we look after communications around the launch of its state-of-the-art multi-purpose entertainment venue, Swansea Arena, due to launch in 2022.
Swansea Arena is a brand-new waterside 3,500 capacity indoor arena, located just a short walk from Swansea Beach, Swansea Marina and Swansea city centre.
The game-changing venue is a key part of the £135m Copr Bay Phase One development and is expected to host 160 performances across music, comedy, theatre, esports and conference events for an estimated 230,000 visitors each year. Around 60 of the events will be exhibitions, conferences, graduations and other business-led events.
Having been involved in this incredible venue’s journey since before ground was broken on the build, we arrived at a point in the campaign that we were really excited about here at Sundae; it was time to introduce tour promoters, press, as well as local businesses to the Arena and reveal a state-of- the-art flythrough, as well as some incredible digital assets.
With social restrictions courtesy of the pandemic still well and truly upon us, we planned a hybrid event that would have the capacity to revert to fully digital should the situation dictate it… and dictate it, it did.
Due to the global situation over the last year or so, we have a lot of digital event experience under our belt, so we saw this as an opportunity to get creative and quickly threw ourselves into the new plan; an online event in which a respected music broadcaster would present their guide to the coastal city of Swansea, and introduce new GM Lisa Mart with an insightful Q and A about the venue, with the reveal of the state of the art flythrough and digital assets woven in.
We contacted our dream presenter; the one and only Huw Stephens (BBC 6 Music, BBC Radio Cymru), and told him about the project. In true Huw style, he cracked a few jokes and told us he was completely up for it… we just knew it was going to be amazing.
Because our event guests couldn’t visit Swansea and see how beautiful the city is, we knew that we had to show this off in Huw’s guide; the location is what separates this Arena from other venues of its type as Swansea is one of the few UK cities located on a sandy beach. It’s fringed with a coastal footpath giving panoramic views of the city on one side and the famed Mumbles lighthouse on the other.
We scripted the film, scouted locations, hollered at our camera crew, and met Huw and GM Lisa Mart in Swansea. A full day filming, dodging rainstorms, meeting locals, fun, laughter and, above all, gathering high quality material later, and it was ready to go to edit.
After Huw casually nailed his role of presenter, he kindly introduced us to the brilliant local band Bandicoot and we were able to secure the perfect soundtrack in their song ‘Fuzzy’; with much of the film dedicated to Swansea’s brilliant music scene, it was really important to ATG and ourselves that this was represented in the film.
Our hugely talented editor Damon returned the final film to us, with the flythrough etc stitched in to show the interior of Swansea Arena for the very first time, including how the different configurations for the multi-purpose venue will work for the wide range of events it will host… and it was absolutely fantastic.
With RSVPs from our super targeted guestlist filling up our inbox, we were ready to go; the date, time and viewing platform were all set, so we sent out the final instructions… the event was fully attended by guests that stayed for the duration, ran without a single hitch and received absolutely lovely feedback.
The event and its content was shown great support by the media with coverage across a range of key regional consumer, business and broadcast outlets, and national news and trade outlets including Wales Online, West Wales Chronicle, Planet Radio Online, Swansea Bay News, South Wales Evening Post, Business News Wales, Insider Media, Commercial News Media, Greatest Hits Radio, MSN, Total Production International, The Stadium Business, Ticketing Business News and Pan Stadia & Arena Management.
We have really loved this part of the campaign and overcoming all of the challenges that came with it, but we especially love this client and this Arena, and we can’t wait to see what the future holds…as the legendary Huw Stephens would say: See you down the front!
Llawer o gariad!
Tom x