WINTER | BIGGER PICTURE
Yule love it
What: Hyde Park Winter Wonderland
When: 21 November – 5 January
Where: London
Agency: IMG
Access caught up with Suzy Griffiths, senior event
director of Hyde Park Winter Wonderland for IMG…
What were the key challenges this year?
The main challenge for this year was uncertainty
surrounding Brexit, with so much of our content and
resources coming from Germany, Holland and Belgium.
We didn’t know what impact it would have on things like
import and export rules and visas for staff, which meant
we had to prepare a series of mitigation plans ahead of 31
October.
How have you kept the event exciting?
We added a 70 metre-high Giant Wheel – the tallest
trailer-mounted, transportable wheel in the world.
We worked closely with the manufactures to make
sure we not only had the world exclusive, but that the
design worked for our event, including ensuring the
gondolas were wheelchair accessible and fully heated and
insulated. Additionally, we worked with leading theme
park Europa-Park to bring its Paddington On Ice show
to Hyde Park Winter Wonderland. This is the first time
that they’ve toured it outside of the park and it’s been
really well received by everyone. We also enhanced the
F&B offering with a new bookable sit-down restaurant
Cedar + Spruce Bar & Kitchen where visitors can enjoy
a full turkey Christmas dinner for the first time at Hyde
Park Winter Wonderland. Due to popular demand, we
increased the size of and added new vendors to the street
food market, and Peppermint has done a fantastic job
with its enhanced décor and theming.
What key suppliers did you use?
Health & Safety support comes from Redwood Event
Solutions Ltd; Gallowglass for security; EEP for
Stewarding. Power Logistics assisted us in implementing
new battery technology and power monitoring. Also, this
is our first year working with GBF Ltd for Green D+ Bio
Diesel across our Generators and Plant to ensure that all
our generators are powered with Hydro-treated vegetable
oil instead of crude oil.
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