It’s difficult to articulate the scale and complexity of Expo 2020 Dubai, but here goes:
Work
We were challenged to help the Department for International Trade (DIT) imagine, create and deliver an unforgettable six month show in Dubai, highlighting the UK’s best people, places, technology, film, sport, music, food, and fashion.
World Expo has been held every five years since 1851, and this one – delayed by 12 months – was the largest global gathering since pre-pandemic times.
A mammoth international showcase of innovation, creativity and collaboration, where 192 countries assembled in Dubai to celebrate the progress, values, and the qualities that define and bind us.
Over the duration of Expo 2020 Dubai, the UK Pavilion would welcome over 5,000 visitors every day, and its iconic design made it the most instagrammed structure on the vast Expo campus.
With spaces for all manner of events, from galas and art exhibitions to intimate meeting rooms and panel discussion stages, this incredible venue became the setting for a wide-ranging event programme across the full six months of Expo.
To showcase the UK’s best and brightest across six months of live events, we designed a programme around eight ‘Breakthrough Moments’ - How will we live? How will we learn? What will we eat? What will we wear? How will we thrive, advance, travel, and create?
We hosted over 300 separate events, delivered live and virtually. Against the ongoing disruption and uncertainty of Covid, we orchestrated the travel, security and logistics for government ministers, musicians, sporting stars, The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Band of the Royal Cold Stream Guards.
And we were one of only a handful of countries to take over the entire Expo campus for our national day. Read about Expo 2020 Dubai #UKNationalDay.
We hosted school groups, innovators, businesses, athletes, politicians, international dignitaries, royals and VIPs. Over a million people visited the UK Pavilion, where we promoted home-grown UK innovation, art, creativity, and solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges.
Special thanks to all the Bray Leino Events team members who spent weeks, even months, in Dubai to make sure this epic project could be delivered seamlessly. Account Director Nick says his dog doesn’t recognise him anymore…
DIT says that, collectively, the businesses associated with the UK’s presence at Expo 2020 Dubai have secured export wins worth £188 million.
We can talk about creativity all day.
