International Festival Of The Sea
Europe’s greatest celebration of the sea returned to Portsmouth in 2005 and we managed every aspect of the event production, turning a working shipyard into a 165 acre festival site.
Featuring 9 stages and 2500 entertainers, the festival welcomed ships and Navies from all over the world, the largest ever assembled.
The warships from the guest nations joined in the festivities and allowed unique “climb aboard “access to the public.
Previous to the 2005 edition of the event, we had managed production in Bristol in 1996, in Portsmouth in 1998 and 2001 and Leith in 2003.
When the festival was created in 1996, our vision was to marry the most spectacular fleet of ships and boats with the magic that is created by the best of music and arts festivals, with the feeling of never quite being sure what is around the next corner. It might be a beautiful vista of tall ships, a chance to taste great food or a story being told by an 8ft tall glitter covered octopus.
The 12 hour entertainment programme featured live music, interactive exhibitions, the bustle and excitement of a 19th century street market in Anchor Lane, jaw dropping combat displays in a specially constructed arena, traditional crafts and skills from rope tying to coracle making, nautical parades and a fisherman’s wharf serving up delicious seafood.
Designed to be a voyage from the past to the future, we worked with a creative team to re-enact the Battle of Trafalgar on the Solent, and concert arena, as well as huge temporary reenactment arenas to showcase troops in combat and the work of the armed forces.
The project was a huge logistical feat; creating facilities for each ship in dock, building visitor facilities and temporary arenas, to manage the displacement of 4500 cars usually parked in the shipyard.
Every member of staff, performer and the personnel of every ship had to be accredited with photo ID. The largest operation of its kind to have been undertaken at the time, we issued 29,000 passes. Strict security saw the installation of x-ray machines and health and safety protocols.
We created media centres and a team to manage the huge promotion machine with over 800 accredited press in attendance at the event.
