Moving with the times
Operating a three-week concert series in one of the grandest and most historically important settings imaginable is no mean feat . IMG ’ s arts & entertainment VP Joel Smith discusses the considerations involved in modernising the Hampton Court Palace Festival while respecting the extraordinary surroundings
Words : Christopher Barrett
Nearly 500 years after Henry VIII used Hampton Court Palace as a home and vast leisure complex that included a theatre , IMG is bringing live entertainment back to the stunning building with its Hampton Court Palace Festival ( HCPF ).
The event series , which has been overseen by IMG for 26 years , ran for three weeks from 9 June . Among the many acts to perform were UB40 , Elbow , McFly , George Benson , Jack Savoretti , Ministry of Sound Classical , Kacey Musgraves , The Human League , Crowded House and Michael Ball & Alfie Boe .
IMG ’ s Joel Smith says the event has been steadily developed in recent years with the aim of expanding the
Hampton Court Palace Festival offering beyond classical music and attracting a more youthful audience . As part of that ongoing strategy , this year saw IMG team up with NoNonsense Group to deliver a more “ rock ’ n ’ roll ” stage set up .
“ Whereas in the past the shows primarily featured acts such as José Carreras and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra , we ’ ve moved away from a lot of that classical programming into more contemporary and legends programming ,” says Smith . “ We ’ re certainly not trying to alienate the existing audience , but we are trying to create a younger feel and in the past few years we ’ ve achieved that with the likes of Bastille and Keane . “ We wanted to modernise the stage , change the look and feel . The new structure enabled us to brand the stage differently , whereas before we had old fashioned drapes around the stage that hadn ’ t really changed for years . We wanted to refresh that and make it more appealing for today ’ s audience .
“ It is also slightly larger stage , with more height , and there is more rigging opportunity in the roof . The cowsheds on the previous stage were limited in size but the new stage provides more space for bigger sound desks and so forth .”
While the overall production of the event is handled by IMG , Bristol-based SWG Events is an ongoing partner that handles much of the stage production and some of the stage advancing . Another key supplier is power specialist Project Power , while one of HCPF ’ s longest standing suppliers is the Arena Group – which has provided seating since the early days . This year , Arena was tasked with a refreshed set up .
“ We managed to enlarge the seating platform , tidy it up and make it fit more snugly within
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