As the nation celebrated the Queen’s platinum jubilee with a
four day weekend packed with pageantry, it was hard not to feel a sense of
pride.
Seventy years as monarch is an achievement unlikely to ever be
repeated, certainly not in any of our lifetimes. And so for this once in a
lifetime party, to whom did the nation turn? To its eventprofs, of course.
The sheer scale of the celebrations was mind-boggling. Kicking
off on Thursday 2 June with Trooping the Colour and a special flypast in London, followed
by the lighting of the beacons that evening, it was four days in which both the
national and international spotlight shone brightly on the UK’s events sector.
The Platinum Party at the Palace concert saw mega stars
from across the entertainment world join in the celebrations, with Diana Ross,
Rod Stewart, Duran Duran and Eurovision singer Sam Ryder all at the
party to mark the Queen's 70 years of reign.
In truth, the show was completely stolen by the Queen’s
sketch with Paddington, as she shared a haphazard tea party with the accident
prone bear from Darkest Peru. It was clever, funny and emotional, and the effort
that must have gone into keeping this a secret until the day make it even more
impressive.
The concert also saw a truly breathtaking drone display
above Buckingham Palace, the logistics of which beggared belief. It was difficult
to know exactly what you were looking at as images from the Queen’s long reign
lit up the night sky, and it was equally hard not to be astonished by it.
Finally, celebrations wrapped up with the Platinum Pageant
on Sunday, which told the story of the Queen’s 70-year reign and our
transforming society. Telling stories is what our sector is all about and once
again the creatives involved nailed the brief, filling the capital with wonder,
warmth, wit and wow-factor.
All too often the role of event professionals gets
overlooked in these big celebrations, so it was nice to see LBC presenter Iain
Dale give a shout out on Twitter.
“No one ever thinks about the people behind the scenes of
events like the Jubilee, who did all the planning, had the ideas, managed the
logistics and put it all into action,” he said. “Job well done. Congratulations
to everyone involved.”
Truly, it was an incredible advertisement for
the creativity and skills of the UK’s eventprof community.
M&IT editor Paul Harvey is a journalist with more than 15 years of experience. He began his career in the local press, working for various titles across the north. Since joining M&IT in 2013, he has become a trusted and respected voice in the sector, championing event professionals and reporting on all aspects of the events industry for the brand.
