Elrow x Carnaby Street
Elrow x Carnaby Street
elrow
LDN
2016
Elrow x Carnaby Street
Elrow x Carnaby Street
Project Credits
Concept & Co‑Creation: Carnaby London (Shaftesbury), elrow & London city stakeholders, special event for the official Christmas lights switch‑on.
Institutional Partners: Westminster / City of London authorities for permits, safety and street closures; coordination with local police, licensing and residents/retailers.
Creative Direction: elrow Creative Team (Juan & Cruz) turning the classic “lights ceremony” into a mini elrow street parade with performers, props and music woven through the existing Christmas theme.
Host Area: Carnaby Street & surrounding lanes in London’s West End, historic shopping and music district famous for its annual themed Christmas lights.
Format & Audience: One evening event, thousands of Londoners and visitors in the street for the lights switch‑on, with elrow providing the live entertainment and parade energy instead of a static stage show.
Highlighted
When Carnaby Street asked us to help switch on their Christmas lights we wanted to turn the whole ceremony into a moving, noisy, colourful reminder that this city knows how to celebrate on its own streets.
Project Description
n 2016, Carnaby Street invited us to produce their Christmas lights switch-on. From the outside it looks like a promo appearance. From the inside it was one of the more complex productions we've done, not technically, but institutionally. Dropping a parade into one of London's tightest pedestrian streets means sitting down with council, licensing, police and local businesses, not just the marketing team. You have to prove you understand you're a guest in someone else's neighbourhood.
Creatively, the constraints were the brief. No huge stage, no 10,000 people. A narrow iconic street, a mixed crowd of families, shoppers and club kids, and one moment to make the lights switch-on explode. We built a moving elrow world: mobile sound, performers weaving through the crowd, decor that played with the Christmas theme without overriding it. Energetic enough to feel like elrow, friendly enough to still feel like a city celebration.
It proved we can work with institutions and historic neighbourhoods without losing what makes us who we are."*
Project Credits
Concept & Co‑Creation: Carnaby London (Shaftesbury), elrow & London city stakeholders, special event for the official Christmas lights switch‑on.
Institutional Partners: Westminster / City of London authorities for permits, safety and street closures; coordination with local police, licensing and residents/retailers.
Creative Direction: elrow Creative Team (Juan & Cruz) turning the classic “lights ceremony” into a mini elrow street parade with performers, props and music woven through the existing Christmas theme.
Host Area: Carnaby Street & surrounding lanes in London’s West End, historic shopping and music district famous for its annual themed Christmas lights.
Format & Audience: One evening event, thousands of Londoners and visitors in the street for the lights switch‑on, with elrow providing the live entertainment and parade energy instead of a static stage show.
Highlighted
When Carnaby Street asked us to help switch on their Christmas lights we wanted to turn the whole ceremony into a moving, noisy, colourful reminder that this city knows how to celebrate on its own streets.
Project Description
n 2016, Carnaby Street invited us to produce their Christmas lights switch-on. From the outside it looks like a promo appearance. From the inside it was one of the more complex productions we've done, not technically, but institutionally. Dropping a parade into one of London's tightest pedestrian streets means sitting down with council, licensing, police and local businesses, not just the marketing team. You have to prove you understand you're a guest in someone else's neighbourhood.
Creatively, the constraints were the brief. No huge stage, no 10,000 people. A narrow iconic street, a mixed crowd of families, shoppers and club kids, and one moment to make the lights switch-on explode. We built a moving elrow world: mobile sound, performers weaving through the crowd, decor that played with the Christmas theme without overriding it. Energetic enough to feel like elrow, friendly enough to still feel like a city celebration.
It proved we can work with institutions and historic neighbourhoods without losing what makes us who we are."*
For a few minutes the whole street inhales together in the dark, and when the light comes back it feels less like a decoration and more like someone just plugged the city into itself.
This is what we mean when we say we work with cities, not just in them.
This is what we mean when we say we work with cities, not just in them.
