Abu Dhabi had never hosted a festival of this sort before, so careful evaluation of crowd safety and production risks was a key part of the planning. The event featured two orbit stages at either end of the city's beach along the Corniche; hosting a spectrum of local and world music stars including Youssou N'Dour, Robert Plant and Khaled.
Kids' parades, artist-led workshops and world cookery demonstrations gave depth and helped entertain the huge number of children who attended. In addition a smaller event was hosted at the historic Jahili fort in the desert city of Al Ain.
The stages were supplied by Serious Stages and the central Tri-Span by the Amazing Tent Company (who also provided the saddle span for Al Ain). Access to both events was free but in controlled numbers.
TESS worked in close partnership with WOMAD and Abu Dhabi production company Flash, headed up by production manager Lee Charteris. Detailed assessments were made of every feature of the event, including site layout, crowd dynamics and access control. Among the challenges were the 40 degree temperatures and the fine beach sand - ideal for lying on but not too good for forklifts or construction.
"Much of the public element of the event was unknown," says Tim Roberts, director of TESS. "As it was the first free event of its type in the country, there was no way of knowing how many people would turn up. So we maintained a constant count of the numbers of people entering and exiting to ensure we didn't exceed safe capacity.
"For TESS it was a great opportunity to develop our relationship with two existing clients, WOMAD and Flash, and to build on our understanding of audiences and working practices in the Middle East. No doubt there will be more to come."
(Jim Evans)
