Blackout Ltd. Setting the Scene for Christmas at Covent Garden

Blackout Ltd, the London- and Paris-based drapes and rigging supplier, was delighted to be involved in the transformation of London's historic Covent Garden Market for the festive season.

As with so many of the projects it is involved with internationally, Blackout provided a complete production service for the transformation, supplying staff, rigging and access equipment to hang Christmas decorations beneath the glass roofs of the market's two main aisles. The decorations, created by Sculptivate, include 73 giant baubles, the biggest 3m in diameter and weighing 551lbs., four Sputniks, and 24 enormous candy canes.

The installation took place at night so as not to disturb the market's daytime trade; Blackout's team, led by Tom Lambert and Ian Moody, were on-site for ten "very cold" nights over two weeks, with Friday and Saturday evenings being their particular favorites as they had to work around "lots of drunk people out partying." Despite their late working hours, the team was captured in action, making an appearance in the newspaper The London Evening Standard.

The installation -- due to remain in place until January 9 -- was just one of the many projects undertaken by Blackout through the autumn, these ranging from providing pipe, drapes and purple velour to the Pride of Britain awards at London's Grosvenor House Hotel, to installing drapes for the London International Horse Show, to rigging truss, drapes, screens and projections for the launch of the Vertu Constellation Quest phone in Moscow, to providing the complete rigging and drapes requirements for the pre-show, main show and party at the MTV Music Awards in Madrid.