JEDDAH WORLD FEST

World Class delivered all aspects of the production, technical production, site management and safety for Jeddah World Fest in July 2019.

As the first international music festival to be held in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Jeddah World Fest was a one-day event attracting 40,000 music fansand broadcast on MTV.

The site crew arrived on site at King Abdullah Sports City before the rest of the crew, to unload trucks and prepare some of the extensive kit. The crewmarked out the site, assembled the perimeter fence and erected the fence lines so that all internal areas, including toilets, concessions and service areascould operate smoothly. It also secured the fencing for the entrance lanes and egress system, ensuring the public could queue in a safe and orderlymanner.

Production crew were split into two teams between the production supply chain and responsible for building all of the LED screens, which were diamondin shape and suspended on the main stage structure. They also set up all audio and lighting on the main stage. Once the build was complete, 10 crewwere involved in the backline changes for all the acts that performed throughout the live show.

Crew Numbers
30+
crew on-site at peak periods
Type of Crew
Crew Managers, production crew, site crew
Key Skills
Production, lighting, audio, backline
Location
Jeddah, KSA

World Class Events was responsible for the appointment of the entire Jeddah World Fest supply chain; Creative Technology (CT), Protec, Electra andsister Spendlove Group company, Showforce.

John Adkins, managing director of World Class was employed as the event’s production director. He appointed event safety and security consultant ChrisWoodford. Showforce provided a team of 5 site crew with an international crew chief, and a team of 20 production crew headed by an internationalcrew manager.

Not only was this the first ever music festival held in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, it was also televised live on MTV, a global music channel. Resourcing,implementing and overseeing the entire production and technical production supply chain for a project of this size was a mammoth undertaking. As anexperienced production manager, John Adkins was able to use his experience and extensive supplier knowledge to carefully select the correct suppliersfor the project. When there was a last minute change to the headline act for the festival, having the experience and support of the supply chain proved tobe invaluable, with everyone involved agile enough to adapt quickly to changes to lighting, sound and video specifications and the new rider.

In addition, as the first music festival there was no blueprint for crowd management and safety for an event of this scale at the venue. It is imperativethat ingress, egress, emergency evacuation procedures and other crowd management procedures are implemented and communicated effectively. By appointing safety expert Chris Woodford who has a wealth of Health & Safety to provide invaluable safety and crowd management advice the event wasdelivered safely and successfully.

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Becky Meers
Head of Operations