Alnwick Gardens 25th Anniversary
An immersive 25th anniversary celebration at The Alnwick Garden, bringing together video, lighting, audio and special effects to create a spectacular experience for more than 6,000 visitors.
Location Alnwick, Northumberland, UK Client The Alnwick Garden
In a continuation of our ongoing work with The Alnwick Garden, in early 2026 we were approached to assist in developing ideas about how this popular tourism destination could stage an event like no other to celebrate the venue's 25th anniversary of opening. After a series of involved discussions, it was decided that an immersive experience which told the story of the Garden was the solution. The challenge was set. Relay the history of the venue's build process whilst ensuring a stunning visual experience that could be enjoyed by multiple thousands of audience members over a series of showings.
Having delivered the Garden’s award winning Winter Light Trail over the past decade in conjunction with our friends at Iris Digital, the logical step was to engage them in content creation with Ben Hines taking the lead on video direction. Ben worked alongside the venue’s Operations Lead, Mark Dawson, to collate existing footage of the Garden alongside capturing new content and adding tasteful animation. In keeping with the Grand Cascade, which is the centrepiece of this stunning outdoor space, we devised a 14m x 3m curved screen constructed from our Absen Polaris 3.9mm LED panels, driven by Novastar COEX processing. The screen was designed to curve gently around the bottom of the huge fountain, perfectly wrapping the contours of the prominent architectural feature. Following the completion of this 17 minute video piece, the task was to deliver complementary visual effects which would illuminate and highlight the expanse of features of the Cascade, without detracting from the video.
Project Manager, Andy Jennings, devised a lighting design in conjunction with Directors, Robbie Baxter and Pete Shorten. Robbie assumed Technical Lead duties and Pete dusted off the gloves to get behind the console to help deliver the vision. Audio duties were handled by our in house Audio Lead, Kegan Rowland, in conjunction with Richard Halling from Iris Digital.
The main lighting systems consisted of Ayrton Rivale, Clay Paky Mythos 2, SGM Q-8, Chauvet Rogue Outcast 1 BeamWash, ACME Pixel Line and Astera AX2. Having illuminated the Grand Cascade multiple times in the past, the team decided to shuffle existing lighting ideas – paying particular attention to the position and function of the units in order to ensure potential for a wide range of looks and movements. Control was via a system of MA console equipment and Luminex data distribution, which proved to be a great combination for this timecoded show, allowing us to achieve pinpoint accuracy with complex effects that served to enhance the visual experience.
“Axiom, Iris Digital and The Alnwick Garden teamed up to deliver one of The Alnwick Garden’s most successful events, celebrating its 25th Birthday. More than 6,000 visitors attended across four nights, and the feedback has been incredible. Combining an engaging narrative with music, lighting, flame and fireworks, the event created a truly spellbinding visitor experience. It stands as a powerful statement of the strength of the creative sector in the North East.”
Mark Dawson
Strategic Head of Operations, Sales, and Facilities Management, Alnwick Gardens
Of course, the piece required an audio system which would deliver both the subtleties of gentler sections of storytelling, as well as the all out intensity of the busier moments of the show. Kegan chose a combination of our RCF stock including RCF’s HDL 30-A line array boxes and 9006 subwoofers, as well as TT-22 boxes to really fill around the main system. A requirement for wireless microphones for presentations saw us deploy our custom Sennheiser EW-D kits, which provided a bulletproof solution across a busy site.
The final piece in the puzzle was making things go with a bang. Our experience of local firework outfit Reaction Fireworks, led us to engage them in building a custom display to really augment the overall finish of the show. Directors Scott and Adam Hillary worked closely with the Axiom and Garden teams to design a show which locked into the timecode sequence, ensuring a precise combination of different effects which finished up the overall viewer experience. Paying heed to the surrounding residential area, the Reaction team struck a careful balance to provide just enough power through audible effects, while utilising lower level and low noise consumables in order to keep the show compact but still visually stunning – using the pyrotechnic effects to add to the illumination of the existing architectural features. Flames and sparks in perfect lockstep with the audio delivery added the final enhancements to what had become an incredibly special one off delivery.
Across four nights of the show, there was a noticeable buzz around the whole town. When the show was finished, it was apparent that some great collaboration between the senior teams of the four involved organisations had exceeded the brief and delivered something truly memorable. Alnwick Garden CEO Mark Brassell remarked “Axiom, Iris Digital, Reaction Fireworks and The Alnwick Garden teamed up to deliver one of The Alnwick Garden’s most successful events, celebrating its 25th Birthday. More than 6,000 visitors attended across four nights, and the feedback has been incredible. Combining an engaging narrative with music, lighting, flame and fireworks, the event created a truly spellbinding visitor experience. It stands as a powerful statement of the strength of the creative sector in the North East”.
Looking to the future, our team is busy preparing for the Garden’s annual Winter Light Trail, though the creative core of the 25th birthday team is refreshingly invigorated with new ideas of how to combine in future and continue to build on what was one of our most ambitious collaborative creation projects. The only question remaining is, how do we celebrate this beautiful venue stepping into it’s 30’s? …”