/sites/all/themes/penton_subtheme_specialevents/images/logos/footer.png
Special Events
Making a Splash: ECA2 Helps FINA Launch the 2017 Aquatic Games with Supersize Spectacle
Special Events Staff Jul 18, 2017

1 14

X

1 14

ADVERTISEMENT
Opening Ceremony of the 17th FINA World Championships Budapest 2017
Photo by Julien Panié

The setting for the opening ceremony? Host city Budapest, with its emblematic Buda Castle perched above the Danube River.

Opening Ceremony of the 17th FINA World Championships Budapest 2017
Photo by Julien Panié

Faced with the task of creating the unforgettable, the teams got to work on the theme: "The Memory of Water." Creative minds from Müpa Budapest took inspiration from the history of Hungary and their beloved city, drawing upon the eternal River Danube as a story thread of continuity and unstoppable energy.

Opening Ceremony of the 17th FINA World Championships Budapest 2017
Photo by Julien Panié

Going even further, ECA2 applied its unique technical expertise to “borrow” the Danube, channeling its waters to take a powerful starring role as choreographed jets, sprays, and ingenious mid-air water screens where fabulous projected video images leave each spectator breathless.

Opening Ceremony of the 17th FINA World Championships Budapest 2017
Photo by Julien Panié

Pushing technical capabilities further still, 10-meter-long flames dance amidst hyperactive laser effects, night-beating light beams, a heartstopping soundscape, fireworks and drones.

Opening Ceremony of the 17th FINA World Championships Budapest 2017
Photo by Julien Panié

A mesmerizing troupe of more than 500 live performers, 220 volunteers and sportsmen interact with sophisticated multimedia technologies, merging innovative dance with a maelstrom of effects.

Opening Ceremony of the 17th FINA World Championships Budapest 2017
Photo by Julien Panié

A dramatic display.

Opening Ceremony of the 17th FINA World Championships Budapest 2017
Photo by Julien Panié

The spectacle was staged from a floating stage right on the river, occupying an overall area twice as large as an Olympic stadium.

Opening Ceremony of the 17th FINA World Championships Budapest 2017
Photo by Julien Panié

Here, the FINA 2017 logo gets its star turn.

Opening Ceremony of the 17th FINA World Championships Budapest 2017
Photo by Julien Panié

The floating set-up itself covers the equivalent of three football fields and presented its own special challenges. The show went on despite heavy river traffic, the current and tide.

Opening Ceremony of the 17th FINA World Championships Budapest 2017
Photo by Julien Panié

The event team carefully planned its video projection set-up to compensate for any movement caused by river currents.

Opening Ceremony of the 17th FINA World Championships Budapest 2017
Photo by Julien Panié

The team team had a scant four months to develop the two-hour spectacle.

Opening Ceremony of the 17th FINA World Championships Budapest 2017
Photo by Julien Panié

A team of 200 created the spectacle, supported by a whopping 540 tons of equipment and 24 kilometers of cabling.

Opening Ceremony of the 17th FINA World Championships Budapest 2017
Photo by Julien Panié

ECA2's Jean-Christophe Canizares served as producer.

Opening Ceremony of the 17th FINA World Championships Budapest 2017
Photo by Julien Panié

As the event team puts it, "For this one night only, the Danube, the Buda Castle, the Chain Bridge … it all becomes a single vast theatre, where projected images tell thrilling tales of old ...  Never before has the world seen an Opening Ceremony where a far-off cityscape defines the extravagant theater limits, and offers such monumental depth of field for video projection and spectacular special effects."

Next Up
Special Day: Spectrum Entertainment Delivers 87th National Day for Saudi Arabia
Start Slideshow ›