Labyrinth Open Air at Tofte Manor 2024

Background

Over the past 10 years, The Fair have grown synonymous with festival production for independent promoters – it seems fitting that 2024 marked the return of Labyrinth Open Air!

Labyrinth have been Busy Earnin’ the reputation of London’s most prolific promoter: selling out London institutions such as FOLD (Dixon in FOLD, wow) and Roundhouse (numerous times) so far this year. Whether it’s Turkish delight Carlita dishing it out in a TFL station or Partyboi69 slinging his ghettotech in the cavernous HERE at Outernet – Labyrinth have been a key driver in bringing global names to the capital for 5 years now… but what about further afield?

Following a fallow year in 2023, Labyrinth once again engaged The Fair (and sister agency OPS) to deliver a standout show in leafy Bedfordshire…oh, and did we mention it takes place in a 17^th-century manor?

Let’s Go Back to 2022, when The Fair team provided full event production for a 1-day show at Tofte Manor; the Labyrinth team teamed up with Lost In A Moment to host the likes of Âme x Dixon, Avalon Emerson, DJ Holographic, Elkka, Gerd Janson, HAAi and more…

Accelerate to 2024, when the Labyrinth team wanted to go bigger: 3 days, new stages, eclectic programming and a total redesign of site!

Across two sunny July weekends, Labyrinth Open Air was a euphony of electronic sounds. Day 1 brought guests from as far afield as Chile to experience Adriatique’s signature sounds (sonic support coming from Âme b2b Jimi Jules, a UK double-act debut) and BLOND:ISH (fresh from a landmark Coachella set). Day 2 was programmed for local tastes, with Fatboy Slim being backed up by BBC legend Sarah Story.

Finally, Good Times the following weekend were brought by UK tastemakers Jungle who brought The Heat: curating an eclectic line-up that ranged from BBC royalty Annie Mac through The Haçienda’s very own DJ Paulette to Ross from Friends (the DJ that is, not David Schwimmer doing a meet-and-greet).

So, what did the Labyrinth want to The Fair and We Are OPS to deliver? Looking to build on 2022’s learnings, Labyrinth engaged with The Fair to deliver all aspects of Production (Site Plan, supplier speccing and sourcing, scheduling, site management, accreditation, sponsor management and so much more…), Operations and H&S Services.

Challenge

Weather: bad weather made it difficult for vehicles to access site – we ran the risk of not getting the infrastructure up to the arena. We had to ensure vehicles did not get stuck, while remaining conscious of ground damage and the production schedule. increase access speed we utilised an additional gate and redeployed a member of traffic management.
Lightning: lightning was detected in the vicinity of the site, leading to an Amber Alert on the second weekend. Thankfully, this was never escalated to Red Alert but we continued to monitor the weather as it brightened up.
Sponsors: As Labyrinth have grown, so has the presence of sponsors – some who only signed up to the event late in the event lifespan. Ensuring they could deliver what they wanted, safely and on schedule, had the potential to be an issue.
Site and Stage Design: the aim was to incorporate the manor house into the stage design. Doing this whilst not obscuring lines of sight, allowing attendees to access the stage safely and providing adequate weather cover was a challenge.
The Euros: with England making it to the Euros in between Weekend 1 & 2 meant a last minute screen needed to be sourced…

8 days on site
Health & safety management and consulting
Event liaison team chairing
Safety Advisory Group attendance
Event Safety Management Plan & other safety documentation delivered
Premises Licence application and the licence was granted
Event Liaison Team Chair & management

Results

Delivery

Full event production including budget management, procurement, scheduling and site design, production management, sponsor management and site management
Successful delivery of Labyrinth Open Air – on schedule, to plan and on budget
Full OPS services (Health & Safety, Operational Management, Licensing services, Traffic Management, Crowd Management and Paperwork Writing)

Results

“My second production of the year brought some fun challenges! I think I was one of many Event Organisers who were cheering for the Netherlands to knock England out of the Euros. It comes with the job (and life, real deep huh) that plans change regularly but trying to predict how England getting to the Euros final would affect egress and drop-off was unexpected at the start of the year…

“ANYWAY, it became clear the day after Southgate’s barmy army got to the final that we had to show the game and we managed to keep everyone happy (until the result) #SouthgateOut

“The weather brought challenges on build and break. Though we managed to protect the venue’s lawn, I did have a moment of doubt about access to the arena due to incessant rain. I was pleased with the solution to redirect smaller vehicles as that protected the grounds from churn which, in turn, allowed our schedule to go to plan.

“Overall, I’m proud of how the wider team delivered the event, pleased that our suppliers smashed it and happy that the Labyrinth team were pleased with our execution!”