| The Diocese of Bath and Wells Celebrates 1100 Years | |
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Wild Duck Productions were delighted to be chosen to work with the Diocese of Bath and Wells, providing technical event management for their 1100th anniversary celebration on the 4th July 2009 in and around Glastonbury Abbey, as well as producing a souvenir DVD of the day. Work started for us back in September 2008 when Wild Duck Productions were contacted and asked to provide quotes for the technical infrastructure and technical event management for the 4th July at Glastonbury Abbey, based on what the diocese knew of the event at the time. We had many discussions about the day and the event's requirements with the Site Infrastructure Director, Chris Hyldon, and we built up a good picture of what technical aspects would be needed to make the event a success. The Diocese of Bath and Wells was formed in 909, meaning that 2009 is its eleven hundredth anniversary! On the 4th May 2009 the Bishop of Bath and Wells, Peter Price, set out on a 330 mile walk to meet the people of his diocese. On the 4 July 2009, he was to complete his journey when he arrived at Glastonbury Abbey, where a day of celebration was to be held to mark the 1100th anniversary of the Diocese of Bath and Wells with live music, talks, workshops, drama and more. Scroll to the bottom of this page to view our large image gallery of the event. We selected Central Presentations Limited as our event partner, a company we have employed on many occasions and whose work has always impressed us. Nick Diacre was appointed technical co-ordinator and was fantastic to work with, he could see our vision of the event and was always understanding and patient when things changed! He and I [Tom Pearson, BW1100 technical event manager, Wild Duck Productions] met often for on-site visits (which usually ended with a visit to the Abbey Tearooms) and liaised on the phone many times a day as well as having regular meetings with Chris Hyldon to discuss the requirements and plans. Dick Tee and Mick Heath from EnTEEtainment Limited were brought in to provide event consultancy and some of the site infrastructure, as well as advising on key safety issues for the event such as crowd control, crowd flow, access routes, health and safety, security and concession positioning. Following months of preparation and planning, work started at Glastonbury Abbey on Wednesday 1st July 2009. Firstly heavy duty trackway was laid down to allow vehicles to move around the site, and fencing was installed for crowd control and safety. A large raised area, protected from the elements, was needed for the service, concert and dancers so a 30ft x 30ft covered main stage was built just in front of the Abbots Kitchen. To that was added a small amount of lighting and the sound equipment. We had spoken to each act and each organiser about their technical needs and so a variety of carefully chosen, versatile sound equipment was installed, to ensure each performer had exactly what they required. During the day that stage would see a wide range of entertainment: a service of celebration, including the arrival of Bishop Peter Price from his walk of the diocese; Youthful Spirit, a choir of 70 teenagers and their band which included drums, a marimba guitar and piano; Adam's Apple, a professional jazz trio of piano, drums and double bass; Lyrica, an ensemble of professional female singers and their piano; and the three performance troupes which make up Restorative Justice Dance Groups. Over forty microphones were to be used on stage including eight AKG414s, Shure hand held and Countryman head worn radio microphones, and a range of Shure instrument microphones. An EV line array speaker system was used for front of house sound and on stage eight pairs of d&b E3 speakers and two pairs of d&b E9 speakers were used for monitoring. A dedicated monitors engineer ensured each act heard what they needed to through their speakers while a front of house engineer looked after the aural needs of the public. Throughout the day sound pressure levels were measured and recorded from around the site. A certified electrician was also on-site during the event to look after the lighting, generators and overall electrical safety. An induction loop was installed next to the front of house engineering position to provide a pure audio feed of the main stage for visitors using hearing aids. The second stage, along with a small PA system (including d&b E3 speakers, Countryman head-worn radio microphone and Shure hand-held radio microphones), was installed inside a marquee behind the main stage. This was to be used by Roly the Clown for his show, A Clown for All Seasons, and for Major General (Retired) Tim Cross CBE as he explained the need for modern western democracies and their leaders to rediscover the absolute necessity for morality, built on the solid foundation of spiritual understanding. The last staging areas were rigged within the Abbey itself, in the choir of the Abbey of St Peter and St Paul behind the iconic Abbey piers. This imposing setting would be the venue for the pageant, referred to as A Romp Through 1100 Years of History. The pageant was specially written for the event by Sue Peto who has a background in television, with credits including producer, director and script writer in the 1970s and 1980s on the BBC's children's programme Play School, and in theatre as an actress, producer and director, as well as running her own theatre and gallery at her home in Somerset. She had researched and written the pageant over a period of six months and enlisted a cast of four male voice choirs and hundreds of children from 25 schools from across Somerset. The first items to go into the pageant area were the risers (small stages) for our front of house sound engineering position (covered), the band (covered) and a throne. Next in was the equipment; due to the nature of the space, most notably the ancient stone work and the resulting acoustic environment, two sets of speakers (two pairs of d&b E9s and a pair of d&b Q-Subs) were used for front of house. One set of E9s, with the Q-Subs, were positioned on either side of the nave just in front of the stage area, and the other set of E9s behind two ruined corners of the Abbey. Six Shure hand-held radio microphones were set on stands for the children while the ten adult members of the cast wore Countryman head-worn radio microphones. The band, which included drums, keyboard and wind instruments, used d&b E3 speakers for monitoring with a mix provided by a dedicated monitors engineer. The Abbey ruins, and the Shure hand held radio microphones, were also used for the performance of an abridged version of A Midsummer Night's Dream by Baltonsborough Primary School, also directed by Sue Peto. For the 1100th Anniversary Celebrations of the Diocese of Bath and Wells we had a total of twelve technical and local crew on site. Wild Duck Productions also provided a four camera film crew with producer for the day as well as providing post-production for a souvenir DVD which is available from the BW1100 Online Shop. In addition to the DVD the diocese wanted a photographer for the day so Wild Duck Productions hired NUJ and BPPA member Justin Tallis for the day. The diocese has kindly granted us permission to use his fantastic photos of the event on this website. On-site communications at events is very important and for the 1100th celebrations we supplied forty nine Motorola CP040 two-way radios for use by the crew, event staff and security, and Clear-Com talkback systems for both the main stage and the pageant area. We also supplied the diocese with branded ID passes for event staff and crew, and Tyvek wristbands for the artists and performers. The event was a great success and it's estimated that the event was attended by over 7500 people. Following the event Wild Duck Productions received some wonderful compliments: Nick Denison, the Diocesan Secretary, said that the day was "a great success" and that that success was "due in very large part to the contribution of Wild Duck Productions". He said that the diocese were "extremely pleased" with our work and that he would have no hesitation in commending us to others. Read full reference. Chris Hyldon, the Site Infrustructure Director, said that from the very onset of planning Wild Duck Productions "provided a professional and efficient approach to the requirements showing flexibility and responsiveness throughout" and that he too would have "no hesitation in strongly recommending Wild Duck Productions." Read full reference. Alan Cook, the Diocesan Music Advisor, thanked us for our hard work. He kindly told us that God has given us a great gift, and he said it was a ministry that he hoped and prayed will continue to grow for us. Read full reference. |
