Winter Gala 2026

Winter Gala 2026 is a black-tie fundraising evening at The Calyx in the Royal Botanic Garden, with live performance, an auction segment, and a brief from the venue that no cables, racks, or production gear should be visible to the guests. That last constraint is shaping almost every decision we’re making in the pre-production for this one.

The Calyx is a beautiful but technically constrained venue. Heritage status means no permanent fixtures and limited rigging options. The space is mostly glass-walled, which is great for the evening atmosphere but adds visual challenges for vision (reflections on the screens, ambient light from the gardens at golden hour) and acoustic challenges for audio (hard surfaces, no soft furnishings to absorb reverb). The “no visible cables” brief means every signal run will be either pre-installed under the floor, run through table draping, or hidden in custom-built scenic elements.

Our approach: wireless audio throughout. Every microphone (the auctioneer’s lapel, the speaker handhelds, and the performer’s instrument mics) will run on Shure ULX-D, with antenna distribution hidden in custom-fabricated wooden bases that double as table centrepieces. Audio runs from FOH to the powered speakers use dedicated low-profile cables run under the carpet through pre-existing service channels. The vision cameras (two operated for the performance, two PTZs covering the auction segment) run on long fibre rather than copper SDI, terminated in small camo-painted boxes that disappear against the venue’s planting.

The auction segment is the technical centrepiece. As the auctioneer works through 12 lots, each lot’s current bid needs to display in real time on the IMAG screens facing the audience, plus on the stream feed for online bidders. We’re building a custom overlay in vMix that pulls data from the gala’s bidding platform via API, with the graphic refreshing in under 200ms when a new bid lands. The auctioneer’s tablet will show the same overlay so he’s speaking with the same data the audience is seeing.

Lighting is deliberately ambient and warm. We’re using Astera battery-powered uplighters around the venue’s columns and along the back garden-facing wall, programmed in a slowly shifting palette of amber, warm white, and a hint of rose for the evening’s hero moment. No conventional stage wash; the speakers will be lit by carefully aimed front fixtures positioned on the existing venue infrastructure (no new rigging) and one small followspot for the auctioneer during the lots.

The full edit and a 90-second highlight reel for the foundation’s social channels will be delivered the Tuesday after the event. We’ll update this case study post-event with results, what worked, and what we’d improve.