On 6 May 2023, the world turned its eyes to Westminster Abbey. The coronation of King Charles III was held here in front of 2,300 invited guests. One day later, more than 20,000 visitors attended another Royal highlight: in front of the magnificent scenery of Windsor Castle, the official Coronation Concert took place with live performances by global stars such as Katy Perry, Take That and Lionel Richie as well as an emotional speech by Prince William. To light up this unique event, which was produced and broadcast live by the BBC, lighting designer Nigel Catmur relied on more than 500 Cameo lights.
For the first time ever, Windsor Castle opened its gates for a public concert. In addition to the 20,000 visitors, the live event was also attended by King Charles III, Queen Camilla, and other members of the Royal Family, as well as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
The impressive circular stage in front of the illuminated east wing of Windsor Castle, which houses the private chambers of the royal family, measures 35 by 35 metres. To the left and right, 30-metre-long stage wings extended the set, along with two diagonal 13 m long catwalks leading from the front of the stage. Also, the ‘Halo’ – a 52-metre-wide and six-metre-high LED screen with 15 million pixels in total – was an absolute eye-catcher.
For the Coronation Concert, the famous British rainy weather took a break. Nevertheless, the production team had taken precautions: all Cameo lights on and off stage were IP65 rated. In total, Nigel Catmur – who had already used hundreds of Cameo outdoor fixtures for the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II (†) in 2022 – opted for 40 OTOS H5 Beam-Spot-Wash Hybrid Moving Heads, 79 ZENIT W600 LED Wash Lights, 148 FLAT PRO 7 G2 and 258 FLAT PRO 12 G2 LED Outdoor Spotlights.
While the FLAT PRO G2s were placed as compact RGBWA outdoor all-rounders on all levels of the huge stage as well as in the large rig below the LED screen, the ZENIT W600s framed the walls of Windsor Castle’s gardens in the background of the stage as blinders and were also used in front of and on Windsor Castle itself to make the ancient walls gleam in all colours. The OTOS H5 complemented the lighting design with striking beam effects on both sides of the stage.
All 525 Cameo fixtures have been supplied by UK rental specialist Liteup Events.