Basic Event Information
Date: 29.05.-02.06.2019.
Location: Rovinj, Croatia
Organizer: MAD PROPS
Client: MAISTRA HOSPITALITY GROUP
Event type: Crossover event (for media, B2B and B2C)
EVENT CATEGORY: CATEGORY CROSSOVER
Event description and key objectives
Early this year, Maistra added a new luxury hotel to their Collection – Grand Park Hotel Rovinj and finished the Monte Mulini Zone investment. Centered around a prestige sailing event, Adris 44Cup, this 5-day event included several different types of entertainment for over 2000 guests, organized to commemorate the opening of the Hotel and to promote Rovinj as a luxurious tourist destination.
To keep up with Maistra’s record of excellence and innovation, our goal was to offer an unforgettable experience to VIP’s, media, local and international guests by combining the beauties of Rovinj with world-class performances, innovative setup and authentic food made by Maistra Collection Chefs.
The event was held in multiple locations, using the Grand Park Hotel Rovinj as the main area. On each of the mornings during 5 days, guests and media witnessed the regatta briefing inside hotel Park and Primi Terreni Restaurant near the newly opened ACI Marina, and then closely followed the regatta by sailing near them on VIP Spectator’s boats. The welcome party held at sunset, for 500 guests at the Hotel’s Laurel & Berry Restaurant, served as a showcase of the hotel and a perfect overture for the weekend spectacle. The highlight of the event was on Saturday, June 1st, with 2 gala dinners taking place at the same time, for about 600 VIP guests, after which the party continued at the Monte Mulini Beach.
Over 2000 guests, by invitation only, had the chance to witness one of the world’s most famous tenors, Andrea Bocelli, whose performance was held a secret to the very end, performing live on a floating 50m stage at the Monte Mulini Bay. The performance was followed by a 150m high, 5min fireworks spectacle and after-parties that continued on until 4 am.
By organizing this event, Maistra fulfilled its key objectives to continue building the image and enlarge the city of Rovinj on the world tourist map, anchor its status as a luxury destination and attract international high-class guests to Croatia.
Key challenges
One of the biggest challenges was the technical set up and anchoring of a 50m boat. On the concert location at the Monte Mulini beach, for anchoring the boat and pontoons, we positioned 16 4 tons blocks in the sea, by using a 100 tons crane with the help of sea divers.
On the other side of the city, in old Marina, we set up the boat with technical equipment: LED screens, sound, light, dome, stage, backstages. When all the equipment over 50 tons heavy was on the boat, we moved and anchored it at the concert venue.
Since this was an open-air event on land and sea, we had to take into consideration the weather, wind, tide and swing conditions. During the entire period of the boat technical setup, we had rain and wind slowing us down.
The possibility of bad weather on the day of the concert was the reason for planning and building up the alternative concert location in a closed Venue B, simultaneously as we were setting up Venue A. Luckily, we were able to hold the concert at the initial venue.
Coordinating multiple events happening at the same time throughout 5 days (regatta race, day and evening shows, dinners and a concert), together with a large number of different teams (regatta team, concert production, artist’s management & technical team, 3 Maistra Collection hotels) presented an additional challenge itself and required of us to carefully follow the predetermined production timeline as well as to be able to adapt as needed to the actual conditions happening on the spot.
Creativity
Rovinj, the most luxurious tourist destination in the region, with a newly opened Grand Park Hotel Rovinj and Monte Mulini Beach with its natural beauty, served as a perfect setup for this event.
Grand Park Hotel Rovinj was the main event area due to its own architectural and design uniqueness and served as a stage for several parties, gala dinners, music performances and the starting point of the regatta. By combining both daytime and nighttime events, as well as different locations, content and delicacies, we gave our guests the opportunity to experience various parts of Hotel Park and Rovinj in extraordinary setups.
In order to fulfill our main goal for this event – to create extraordinary musical evening event on the Monte Mulini Beach – Spectacle on the sea, we created an impressive concert zone with a stage floating on the sea, positioned on the 50m wide boat, with a 14m transparent dome as a roof above the stage, connected to Monte Mulini Beach with pontoons.
Monte Mulini Beach was transformed into a VIP auditorium, with one side of the beach covered with elegant transparent roofing, holding a seating area for 600 guests and a standing area for 1500 guests.
Using ambient lights in combination with glowing furniture and bars, we created a magical atmosphere for a concert under the stars, with world class performers: cellist – Stjepan Hauser and one of the world’s greatest tenors – Andrea Bocelli, accompanied by a philharmonic orchestra from Zagreb and soloists from Italy.
Innovation
The concert venue and the scenery at the Monte Mulini Beach, were unique and unforgettable, unlike anything seen before in this part of the region.
A floating stage was built on a 50m cargo ship, right in the Monte Mulini bay. The ship itself was at 40m distance from the shore, with a 36m illuminated pontoon connecting it with the Monte Mulini Beach.
By using custom design scenography elements, modern video and audio equipment, the cargo ship was transformed into a spectacular stage, floating on the sea. Framing the 14 meter dome from both sides, were 2 blocks of scenography elements, each constructed out of 4 LED screens. Together with the specially designed light equipment, counting over 200 different devices, installed both inside the dome and on the side constructions, this remarkable setup created a one of a kind visual show on the sea surface. Different colors emerging from the light equipment, changing within each of the songs, when projected on the dark blue, rippled sea and surrounded by the darkness of the night, provided a truly unique experience to over 2000 guests who witnessed this audio-visual performance.
Monte Mulini Beach was never before used as a concert venue, and so this event opened up new perspectives and event possibilities for the future.
Execution
The entire event planning & preparation period lasted 6 months, with a 10 day setup on the location.Within the 10 days of on-site preparation, 6 different locations had to be utilized and coordinated between 3 different hotels.
The technical setup started 8 days before the event, on 3 locations: 1) Mulini beach, where the boat and the pontoons were being anchored, 2) the old Marina, where the equipment was being assembled and loaded onto the boat and 3) at the alternative indoor concert location, Venue B, which had to be ready in case of bad weather.
A total of 200 team members worked together to set up the boat, the VIP zone at the Monte Mulini beach and the set up the alternative location.At the same time, a second team was setting up the stage for happenings at the Grand Park Hotel Rovinj. The hotel’s ground floor – restaurant Primi Terreni was equipped with video, audio devices and branding materials to host regatta members and guests at the morning show and an after sail cocktail party each day.
When setting up the welcome party and both gala dinners, our design team had to take into consideration the uniqueness of the Grand Park Hotel and ensure the equipment and scenography used in the setup is modern, minimalistic and inline with the design and visual identity of the hotel.
After the concert was over, the boat and the stage were disassembled and the entire beach completely cleaned within 24 hours, ensuring the continuity of working hours of the Monte Mulini Hotel & Beach.
Measurable results
The goal of the event was to promote Grand Park Hotel Rovinj, together with Maistra Collection and their continuous efforts to build Rovinj and Istra as a luxury tourist destination on the Adriatic Coast. By organizing the event, centered around the regatta and the gala concert, we managed to attract and engage over 2000 guests on site.
The tickets planned for the Saturday concert quickly disappeared, as soon as the guests started arriving to Rovinj for this gala event. The concert zone at the Monte Mulini beach was entirely full, with nearly 600 VIP guests and 2000 regular guests attending the concert.
The event itself was covered by all major Croatian and regional media companies, TV & radio stations, newspapers and online portals. The total number of non-paid media announcements before and after event came to a high 159, including: 4 TV coverages, 10 radio announcements, 21 print publications, 115 web articles and 9 press agencies.
Communication
All important Croatian media companies shared the news of the world sailing elite returning to Rovinj after 10 years. Regatta’s 44Cup owners and participants declared that this was the best regatta since its beginnings, with great possibilities for further cooperation.
This event didn’t include only the prestige regatta, but also celebrated the opening of the new Grand Park Hotel Rovinj, as well as the new ACI marina, as the center of the entire event. As an addition to that, the Monte Mulini Luxury Zone was finalized and opened for tourists. All media mentioned concert of the worlds famous tenor Andrea Bocelli and spectacular stage and scenery on the sea and Monte Mulini Beach.
As mentioned before, the total number of non-paid media announcements before and after the event was more than 159 times, including: 4 TV announcements in news and lifestyle shows, 10 radio announcements, 21 news, business and lifestyle print publications, more than 115 web articles and 9 press agencies.
With this event Adris and Maistra Collection once more confirmed that they are the true regional leader in luxury tourism. Excellence in service, food and drinks, local delicacies made by Maistra hotel’s Chef’s, regatta, world music stars and high standards of the event production, made all of this an unforgettable event and experience for all guests.
The use of sustainable practices
Following the standard already set by Maistra Collection hotels, the entire 5-day event was conducted completely plastic-free, which was of utmost importance at the beach concert due to the number of people (over 2000) attending the concert. All of the materials used to serve drinks were either reusable or made out of paper.
In April 2019, Maistra’s hotel Adriatic in Rovinj, replaced all disposable plastic items with disposable alternatives, becoming thus the first “plastic-free” hotel in Croatia and in the region, committed to create work and leisure environment without plastic waste.
