BIRMINGHAM COMMONWEALTH GAMES
COMPLETE FESTIVAL LIVE SITE TRANSFORMATION AND MANAGEMENT
Aim:
The 2022 Commonwealth Games was a momentous occasion for the city of Birmingham, and the surrounding areas. Working in partnership with two Birmingham-based companies, ADI were chosen to deliver all the Official Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games Festival Live Sites.
Multiple city locations, from Victoria Square and Smithfield to smaller civic and community green spaces would need to be transformed into accessible hubs for cultural placemaking and collective celebration during the games – with the aim of showcasing Birmingham, it’s creative talent and vibrant culture to the rest of the world.
Services:
Content Creation
Content Play-out
Digital Signage
Interactive Experiences
LED Screen Design
Modular LED Screens
Mobile LED screens
Plasmas and LCD’s
Project Management
Screen Branding
Sports Presentation
Structures & Rigging
Visualisation
Birmingham, UK
Complete Site Transformation through Collaboration
Outdoor Digital Productions (ODP), a collaborative enterprise between ADI, JA Productions and Outdoor Places Unusual Spaces (OPUS) were chosen to deliver the official Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games Festival Live Sites.
Combining their expertise in live production, innovative event technology, and cultural programming, ODP created unique and inclusive live experiences, to inspire and amaze spectators during the Games. Over multiple city locations, ODP fused cultural, sporting, and digital elements to transform spaces into accessible hubs for spectator entertainment and collective celebration of the Commonwealth Games.
Working closely with the Birmingham Commonwealth Games Organising Committee, ODP delivered an unforgettable 11 days of activations and live programming. We took initial ideas and brand values to conceptualise and design each live site location, and continued the journey right through to the installation, production and full-site management across multiple locations
Victoria Square
Over the course of the Games, a trio of Birmingham’s most popular civic square quickly became the beating heart of the city centre. Huge crowds gathered to watch the sporting action on the super-wide giant LED screen, while the sounds of over 150 local musicians poured into the surrounding streets from the performance stage in Victoria Square.
In transforming the iconic space into an environment that aptly celebrated Birmingham’s diverse culture and breadth of artistic talent, ADI designed and managed content for 106m² of LED and performance on the bespoke stage design that perfectly framed the city’s famous ‘Floozie in the Jacuzzi’ sculpture. This included a digital totem and versatile LED gantry, the latter of which was used to welcome and inform spectators through creative content, as well as stage the finishing line of the Marathon events.
Smithfield
The Smithfield Festival Site sat at the core of a vibrant, open space, with the Commonwealth Games’ beach volleyball and basketball 3×3 competitions taking place around it.
Tasked with uniting culture and sport, ADI created a community hub with a bespoke three-sided 210m² LED screen and stage structure that played host to an array of digital commissions from across the region. ADI conceptualised, designed and installed the showpiece ‘Beacon Stage’, which provided a focal point for entertainment and celebration throughout the Games, including a variety of interactive multiplayer games powered by Piing.
ADI’s experienced production team then managed the video, audio, lighting and SFX for not only the key live Sporting moments, but all the on-stage performances.
Neighbourhood Sites
Created with local communities in mind, ADI’s technical and production teams worked collaboratively to bring colour and vibrancy to seven different Neighbourhood Festival Sites.
A mobile LED screen provided a free live broadcast of the sporting action for visitors to enjoy, including the opening and closing ceremonies; Midland-based food vendors offered a diverse range of cultural cuisine, while artists and performers took to the stage to bring those that live in the locality together.
The programme at each site reflected a different element of the Games, from the ‘warm-up’ in Castle Vale, to the notions of speed and boundaries in Sparkhill. The theme for Edgbaston was water, whilst Yardley focused on our ability to play.
Although each site was custom designed for its surrounding community, there was a running theme of art and cultural events which complimented the digital assets and sports activities.
We are delighted to have been able to showcase Birmingham’s wide array of local talent and create engagement by transforming numerous city centre locations into unique spaces. To see our concepts and ideas evolve into reality has been a rewarding experience for all at ADI. This bespoke level of live site event delivery has been the first of its kind and has never been done before by the Commonwealth or Olympics. The success of the Festival Sites prove that spectators do not just come together for the sporting action, but for the cultural and community elements which we provided through engaging LED and AV solutions.
Queen’s Baton Relay
Birmingham staged the 16th official Queen’s Baton Relay – an epic journey across the Commonwealth, with The Queen’s Baton visiting all 72 nations and territories. The tour got underway back in October 2021 when Her Majesty The Queen placed her Message to the Commonwealth into the Baton.
Travelling from Buckingham Palace to Birmingham’s Victoria Square, ADI moved from site to site with an iCONIC 15 mobile LED screen. At each location, audio, playout and content was created and managed by the talented production team.
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London
To celebrate 10 years since London hosted the Olympic and Paralympic Games, and to encourage people to get behind the 2022 Commonwealth Games, East London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park was transformed into a fun-filled festival site.
ADI supplied the park with an iCONIC 40c LED screen – with audio and content playout included – to broadcast a live feed of the sporting action for the entirety of the Games. This proved to be a popular feature, where art, live music, food vendors and sports activities created a family-friendly atmosphere.
We were excited to have ADI and the wider ODP team on-board to facilitate our Festival Sites during a momentous occasion for Birmingham and the surrounding area. With strong links to the city and its local talent, ODP brought their vast experience in live events, digital technologies and culture to the project, helping us promote Birmingham to global audiences, whilst actively engaging spectators and visitors for the duration of the Games.
Outcome:
For the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games, ADI successfully transformed multiple large-capacity venues, civic squares and community green spaces across the city and its surrounding areas to form a vital part of the B2022 experience.
We utilised our wide skill-sets across bespoke staging, LED screens, technical infrastructure, creative presentation and interactive gaming, and bought each Festival Site to life through complete venue management.
With a combined footfall of over 1.7 million visitors across the duration of The Games, the Festival Sites achieved the inclusivity, enjoyment and engagement that were the key objectives of the Organising Committee (OC). Alongside the OC, and as part of ODP, ADI have helped establish a new significance for Festival Sites and cultural programming within the Commonwealth Game’s programme, while showcasing Birmingham and its creative talent to global TV audiences, visiting spectators and local communities.
