Our busiest weekend of the summer took us to three of the most picturesque places in the country, the Lake District, Castle Howard and Torbay. On Saturday night we entertained an audience of 5,000 at the Castle Howard summer proms concert. We're always nervous when working for a new client so it was a great relief when Andrew Wyke, director of the organisers, Musical Associates, phoned up the following day to say it was 'absolutely brilliant'. Dick Budgen and his team used the wide lakeside setting to produce some beautiful sequences to animate the 1812, the Radetsky March & Land of Hope and Glory. On Sunday night the action moved to Ulverston in the Lake District where the reopening of the Sir John Barrow Monument, a 100ft high inland lighthouse on Hoad Hill, drew another huge crowd. This time it was Rino Sampieri and his team who produced another memorable show. Our photographer Hayley Maddin captured the spectacle in this hot shot. On Monday we were supposed to be on the English Riviera but it turned out to be more like the English Rainiera. Torrential downpours and high winds threatened one of the main attractions of Torbay's Royal Regatta week, the annual fireworks extravaganza. But by mid afternoon the skies cleared, the wind dropped and Paul Roberts and his team had the rare treat of near perfect conditions to rock the Riviera. Choreographed to a dance mix including the Black Eyed Peas, Scissors Sisters, Coldplay and Take That, the show produced some stunning sequences, especially the waterfall effects which tumbled from a height of 300ft all the way down to the sea. 'Fantastic' said Regatta secretary Debbie Selley. 'See you next year.' All in all a fabulous weekend, with special thanks to show designers David Willsher and Steve Boothman.
