Mandela's 90th Birthday

Portfolio - Case Study - Mandela Concert
Main body image case study - Mandella 1
Main body image case study - Mandella 2
Main body image case study - Mandella 3
Hyde Park London was the privileged host for Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday celebration

Hyde Park London was the privileged host for Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday celebration on Friday 27 June. Live Nation worked closely with Mandela’s charity 46664 (named after his prison number for his 27years of incarceration under apartheid) to organise and deliver a hugely successful and historic event.

The concert will be Mandela’s last public appearance to raise awareness and funds of the global HIV AIDS epidemic, to spread the message of hope and calls to action, the pleas for compassion, assistance and support for those living with HIV and AIDS. South Africa is one of the countries worst hit, with 5.4m living with the disease.

46,664 tickets were issued and millions watched the broadcast globally, the 3 hour star-studded event hosted by actor Will Smith, featured performers from the original Free Nelson Mandela concert 20 years ago, as well as newer artists keen to show their support for Mr. Mandela and his work. Some of which included Simple Minds, Queen, Annie Lennox, Leona Lewis, the Sugarbabes, Amy Winehouse, Eddy Grant and Johnny Clegg.

Creative Technology has a vast knowledge of working on large high profile events particularly in Hyde Park, having previously worked on Live 8, Hard Rock Calling and Proms in the Park, to name but a few. CT has also worked with Mandela’s charity 46664, having supplied all screens and cameras for a similar event in Tromso, Norway in 2005. When approached by Robbie Williams to supply the LED screens for the Hyde Park show this dovetailed perfectly into CT’s now regular run of events in Hyde Park for Live Nation and Blink TV.

Two 7.7m x 5.8m Mitsubishi OD10 screens were already in the spec for the Hyde Park run, as was a 25m² screen behind the FOH mix position. For the Mandela event CT added an additional horizontal strip of modules to the lower edge of the Imag screens to create an animated ticker for text messaging, which not only allowed the audience to send in their own Birthday wishes to the man but created a significant additional revenue stream for the charity.

The main backdrop to the stage was created with three 6.4m x 3.8m Mitsubishi OD10 screens, enhanced with 42 additional abstract sections of Unitek 25mm flown from the stage lighting trusses. A design that mirrored the 2005 Tromso event, and has become part of the 46664 look.

After Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday celebration an overnight rebuild into Hard Rock Calling saw the Unitek modules and the Text tickers stripped out ready for Eric Clapton’s Saturday night slot, followed by another overnight reconfigure during which the three on stage screens were rebuilt into one central 60m² display for the Sunday night Police Show.

The side stage Imag screens remain in situ for a further week covering Jack Johnson and the O2 Wireless Festival whilst the mix position and on stage screens are removed.