When Real Ideas approached JHAV, The Media Workshop and Clear Events and Consultancy, we were excited.
They wanted to reunite the team behind the Illuminate Light Festivals in Royal William Yard. This time, the goal was to create Dazzle: a festival of light, creativity, and heritage, for the Devonport 200 celebration event.
We knew it would be an extraordinary project!
Celebrating Devonport’s rich history
Marking 200 years since the founding of Devonport, now a part of Plymouth, this festival was designed to celebrate the community’s rich history while looking forward to an exciting future.
The concept of Past, Present and Future was fundamental to the strategy of how to bring the spaces to life and the type of content that we wanted to create. Devonport has had many challenges in the past, heavily bombed in WWII, a history of low-income households and high crime rates but an area that is on the up with many regeneration projects, a strong community and a positive outlook for the future.
The brief
a four-day immersive experience running from February 27th to March 2nd, located between Devonport Market Hall, Devonport Guildhall and ‘Zone N’, an area of waste ground that would be transformed into a community outdoor event space as part of the festival.
‘Dazzle’ aimed to engage audiences of all ages with projection mapping, light art installations, heritage exhibits, Immersive Dome experiences, and live performances. Our role was to bring these elements to life through our AV and Production Management expertise, ensuring an unforgettable visual and immersive experience.
Working with The Media Workshop, who led on creating stunning content for the projection installations and managing the projection mapping installations, JHAV were responsible for Production Management, Structures, Site Lighting, Audio, Rigging and site infrastructure.
The Challenge
A festival of this scale and ambition came with unique challenges:
Community:
Working in and around a closeknit neighbourhood community to deliver the installations. Identifying locations and installations that would be engaging for the audience whilst minimising the impact on the local community.
Weather and Location:
Event dates at the end of February, start of March, were always going to present potential weather challenges. A number of the installations would be outside, including key circulation areas for the audience. Whilst also having indoor space within the buildings we needed to make sure the outdoor installations were resilient and robust.
Built Environment:
A number of the buildings we were working in, on and around, were of a listed status and special care had to be given to the design of the installations within these spaces. Where equipment could be positioned, how it would be accessed and how the public would view it all needed consideration
Interactivity and engagement:
How could we route audiences between the spaces and installations in a safe way, often through public spaces between the sites, whilst still creating continuity and cohesion between the areas
Visual Impact:
How could we put Devonport on the map and make it a focus of attention for the duration of the festival
Our Approach:
Projection Mapping on Historic Landmarks
We worked closely with The Media Workshop to identify locations and solutions for how to projection map locations such as Devonport Column and the three iconic tower blocks of Devonport that are visible from much of the city. This included custom projection hide solutions and craning equipment on to roofs of buildings.
Dynamic Light Art Installations
We supplied and installed over 150 lighting fixtures into key locations to create an immersive atmosphere and a complimentary backdrop to the stunning projection installations. Due to the close proximity of locations to residential properties additional care and attention was taken to light spill and the impact on local residential properties.
The lighting was used to transform traditionally dark areas of the local community into vibrant pathways and colourful landscapes to create the cohesion between the different areas.
Seamless Performance Support
The installations required professional-grade sound and lighting setups, ensuring crystal-clear audio and reliable, impactful lighting solutions. We utilised our extensive stock of d&b Audiotechnik speakers to design PA systems suitable for each of the installations, providing great coverage and audio quality whilst minimising off site noise levels for local residents.
Our technicians were on hand throughout the festival to manage real-time AV support, guaranteeing a flawless production.
Site and Production Management
Working with the event management team to design the areas, establish resources required from third party suppliers and the timeline for the build and derig of the event.
"This project was a truly unique experience. Working with the team again was brilliant, it’s a great example of how the right combination of creatives, technicians and organisations can create a transformative event that can create experiences enjoyed by all ages and communities. It felt like we managed to create something very special for Devonport that really brought attention to the rich history and community of the area and hopefully it will help to continue the positive change in the area over the coming years.
Technically we had a number of challenges to overcome, particularly with projection locations and the logistics around that, along with the lighting and audio design to minimise the impact on residents that were located very close to a number of the installations, but we feel we achieved a great balance. There were no negative comments from local residents, many of them visiting the event for multiple nights and commenting on how they enjoyed the area being transformed."
John Hibdige - JHAV Project Manager Dazzle 2025
