ADI Return to Leeds for Opera and Party in the Park

50,000 gather on Saturday evening for Opera in the Park For the seventh year running, ADI had a team at the beautiful grounds of Temple Newsham for the largest free music event in the country, Leeds City Council’s annual Opera & Party in the Park weekend. 

As always, the weekend offered literally something for everyone, with two separate and very different events taking place.

ADI arrived on the Friday to rig the two 20m² 4:3 Virtuality screens on either side of the stage. ADI were also providing a three camera outside broadcast unit and team to film the event live for transmission onto the screens, so Friday’s work also involved cabling the three camera positions on stage and at the front-of-house position and a full check before the next day’s entertainment.

Sunday brings a massive 70,000 for Party in the Park

Following last year’s near wash out, everyone was grateful for the spate of glorious weather that the country was enjoying, and a warm and dry Saturday evening offered a relaxing evening of classical music and entertainment with Opera in the Park. The free event attracts audiences of over 50,000, who arrived early in the evening to set out their deckchairs and get comfortable for the evening’s entertainment, which this year was headlined by the orchestra of Opera North and the Leeds Philharmonic Chorus, with the line-up also including soloists Anne-Sophie Duprels, Frances Bourne, Edgaras Montvidas and David Kempster.

 The gorgeous weather was still present as ADI arrived back on site the next morning to prepare for Sunday’s Party in the Park. An altogether more raucous event, Party in the Park attracts a distinctly younger crowd, with 70,000 pouring through the gates at midday ready for an impressive line-up of UK pop acts that included McFly and Scouting for Girls. Although this was also a free event – with the tickets distributed on a first-come-first-served basis – Pop in the Park proved to be so popular that tickets were being touted for up to £100 shortly before the event!

  ADI's camera crew capture all the on-stage action for live broadcast on the LED screens With the show being broadcast live by main sponsors Radio Aire, ADI also provided a roaming camera in the “green room” for backstage interviews and a down-stream mix facility to allow Radio Aire to key over graphics and control their stings and sponsors’ messages between bands.