Theatre, dance, music, street art, puppetry... what more could you want from a festival? We have had the pleasure of providing Greenwich and Docklands International Festival with full safety management services during 2018 and 2019.
2020 saw a very different event, due to the effects of COVID-19, but still an extremely successful one.
Ellie Harris, festival producer, described our contributions as 'invaluable', particularly as the governments COVID-19 guidance changed during the planning process. Every Friday we held a virtual team meeting, discussing GDIF plans against government and COVID-19 updates, plugging into the European street arts community and the World Health Organisation. This approach allowed us to stay as agile as possible, responding to new guidance effectively and cementing confidence in our planning and processes.
Unfortunately, most regular venues used by the GDIF were unsuitable for social distancing purposes, so we embarked on a mission to find larger, safe spaces across East London. The results of our efforts saw 150 shows taking place across 19 locations in the royal borough of London and East Greenwich. These performances were enjoyed by more than 21,000 social distanced audience members.
We're pleased to say the event was a superb success, fueled by good comms and good plans.
We invite you to read more about our event safety work with GDIF this year, in our interview with Stand Out magazine here, (page 40).
