Trafalgar Square Christmas tree light-up
December 2010
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For over 10 years now, Sound By Design has been proud to be contracted as the technical supplier for the time honoured London tradition of the lighting-up of the Trafalgar Square Christmas tree.
Each year since 1947, a Christmas tree has been given to the people of London from the people of Norway in gratitude for Britain's support for Norway during World War II. The tree is usually a Norwegian spruce over 20 metres high and 50-60 years old and is selected from the forests surrounding Oslo with great care several months, even years, in advance. The Norwegian foresters who look after it describe it fondly as 'the queen of the forest'. The tree is felled in November during a ceremony in which the Lord Mayor of Westminster, the British ambassador to Norway and the Mayor of Oslo participate. It is brought to the UK by sea, then completes its journey by lorry and is then decorated in traditional Norwegian fashion, with vertical strings of lights. This historic tradition has become a definitive Christmas event in London, marking the onset of the festive season. The large area of Trafalgar Square usually requires a distributed sound system comprised mainly of Meyer Sound UPA-1P and 2P cabinets with fills of slightly smaller EM Acoustics’ EMS-81s. For this year’s ceremony though, further sound re-enforcement was provided using Meyer Sound M1D curvilinear arrays suspended from ALC KITT towers to provide even coverage for the growing crowds at the east and west sides of the National Gallery. Everything was centrally controlled from a DiGiCo SD9 digital mixing console with the system processing taken care of by a Meyer Sound Galileo 616. Despite the bitter cold and the adverse weather conditions the show was a great success with the Lord Mayor of Westminster leading the procession joined by the choir from St Martin-in-the-fields and the Salvation Army band. In the days following the ceremony and continuing right up until Christmas, a carol service was held every evening with four different groups performing each night on a small stage positioned in front of the Christmas tree. Several choirs and many charitable individuals took part, with excellent attendance and lots of money raised for good causes. "Despite the bitter cold and snow showers, you managed to put on a great show for all who turned out. Please pass my thanks on to the team for their assistance with the event; they all did a great job and are a credit to Sound By Design." Tim Maynard, EC Harris |
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