The Auckland Racing Club / Ellerslie Event Centre is one of our longest standing clients. We are their exclusive AV provider, supporting the racing itself and the increasingly high profile off-track entertainment.
We have worked closely with Auckland Racing Club this season as they aimed high and successfully rejuvenated what the races mean to the city of Auckland. They wanted to put racing at the top of the local sporting must-do list. To quote, they wished to offer, “a truly unique mix of the finest entertainment, corporate hospitality, food, fashion and thoroughbred horse racing.” The Club wanted to create race meetings that would be seen as a wonderful opportunity to enjoy a day out for the whole family or large groups of friends.
Thus throughout the feature season which runs from November to March, we worked with our clients to provide the AV required for a host of different types of entertainment including live DJ’s, bands and fantastic on-course party areas.
This all built to a climax for Auckland Cup Week. Factor in the risk the Auckland Racing Club was taking by reducing the 3-day event to two days, moving the mid-week Auckland Cup Race to a Saturday for the first time in 141 years, and the pressure was on. We all knew that we had to up the ante and take the visitor experience to a whole new level to achieve CEO Cameron George’s aim of “creating an Auckland Cup Day for the people of Auckland.”
The Mumm Racing Village
A key vehicle for raising the stakes was the new Mumm Racing Village. G.H. Mumm, Pernod Ricard’s Prestige Champagne House, worked with the Racing Club to design a stand-alone village experience with its own ambience, stage and entertainment. Set on the race course’s stunning Champagne Lawn with sweeping views of the home straight and winning post, the Racing Club wanted guests to be blown away by both the racing atmosphere and the live performances. Step up Edwards…
We supplied a sound and lighting solution to ensure visitors to the Mumm Racing Village felt that they had been transported to a mini-festival. We used our concert quality DAS Line Array sound system accompanied by innovative themed stage lighting options to convert the lawn into a carnival set.
This was in addition to providing sound course-wide and supporting four other entertainment sound systems across other “places to be”. Our experienced and highly professional technical crew had a busy couple of days!
A Sell Out
The Mumm Racing Village was a sell out and the results speak for themselves. The Auckland Racing Club have had nothing but positive feedback from sponsors and guests for the new look Cup Week. Many called it the best one yet. It was an honour for Edwards to be involved in transforming Auckland Cup Day into a must-attend carnival.
