Access All Areas November 2021 | Page 46

“ Winterella is the metamorphosis of our summer Between The Bridges event that ’ s been a huge success ”

NOVEMBER | FEATURE

middle of the field delivering Parklife ,” says the company ’ s director Jon Drape . “ Instead , I was in a building site , so I just brought all the suppliers with me , and it ’ s a real collaborative festival industry production team .”
This year the ice rink , provided by Blue Martini Group , will sit in a 700sqm mezzanine , which is described as a “ world first ” by Drape as it was constructed using a new material called concratene - a grapheneenriched concrete . With a capacity of 2,000 , the venue will also feature a 45-foot-high Christmas tree in the centre , surrounded by market food and festive entertainment .
Drape says the festive season is a hugely important period for Engine No . 4 : “ We need to operate 12 months a year and , like a festival , we never stand still so it ’ s all about coming up with new concepts and new elements to make sure it ’ s constantly fresh .”
Drape explains that the event has been designed to make sure it has Covid-safety “ baked into it ”. Among its Covid-safe features will be individually heated outdoor booths that can seat up to 10 people .
Winter Island will be launched on Bonfire Night with a firework display . Drape says : “ Not many city centre venues can offer that , but due to the unique nature of where we are on the Mayfield site , luckily we can do a few things that others can ’ t .
Jane Greenfield
Daire Basra

“ Winterella is the metamorphosis of our summer Between The Bridges event that ’ s been a huge success ”

“ The Mayfield site , from what it was five years ago , which was a completely derelict , unloved , unknown area in Manchester , now has around 40,000 people going through it every week – whether that ’ s Escape to Freight Island or Warehouse Project .”
Kew the lights A rather more verdant venue in the winter events market is Kew Gardens , which has also hosted an ice rink in the past .
A large part of the venue ’ s offering is its Christmas at Kew light trail – a joint venture between the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew and entertainment promoter Raymond Gubbay . To deliver the trail the pair are also working
Hampton Court Ice Skating
Adam Heptonsall
with Culture Creative , which has been creating lighting festivals in heritage and landscape settings since 2007 .
Christmas At Kew was cut short last year but is back with several new art installations and a new route , which is something organisers do every few years to “ keep things fresh ”, says Culture Creative associate producer Jane Greenfield .
She says the venue ’ s new light installation spans the width of the Gardens ’ Sackler Crossing and is one of the most challenging artworks ever installed at Kew due to its scale , the fact it is based in water , and it has to be craned into position .
The venue also has a new commission by Newcastle-based digital artists and designers Novak , which will see animations projected on to trees along the trail .
“ We have asked them to create a bespoke visual story referencing original botanical imagery from the Kew archives mixed in with more traditional Christmas animation ,” says Greenfield .
Daire Basra , head of commercial events and event production at Kew Gardens , says the team switched to cashless last year , which enabled increased operational efficiency
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