The Mid Autumn Festival is a shining pearl in the cultural heritage of the Chinese nation. The 2024 Dongguan Mid Autumn Festival Gala, with its unique and stunning stage design, brings a feast of visual and technological integration to the audience, with the theme of "Bright Moon on the Coast, Shared by the Bay Area at This Time".
This evening party is guided by the Propaganda Department, United Front Work Department, and Talent Work Leading Group Office of the Dongguan Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China. It is jointly organized by the Dongguan Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television, Tourism, and Sports, the Dongguan Coast Bay New Area Management Committee, and Dongguan Radio and Television Station. Vanyee Culture serves as the chief stage art designer and producer of the event.
Next, please follow us to explore the creativity and ingenuity hidden behind the magnificent stage.
After several rounds of inspiration collision, the director team of Dongguan Radio and Television Literature and Art Center and the design and production team of Vanyee Culture blurted out the key words for this year's Mid Autumn Festival: the moon rises on the sea. The entire stage design revolves around the theme of "Mid Autumn Festival full moon", telling the story of Dongguan people's harmonious coexistence with nature and walking with the times through the transformation of stage scenes, changes in lighting, and arrangement of performances. From the ancient people's reverence and prayers for the Mid Autumn Moon in Dongguan to the thriving development of modern Dongguan in the construction of the Greater Bay Area, they are presented on stage in a poetic and imaginative way. This design concept creates a grand and profound visual atmosphere, allowing the audience to experience a culture that transcends time and space while enjoying the evening party.
A mechanical stage that can run?
Stage Space Design
Breaking through the traditional static stage form, Vaanyee Culture has created a "running" mechanical stage with its creative ability in the field of technology and performing arts. The total length is 30m and the width is 20m. The spatial structure of the entire stage is "variable" and can be adjusted and changed according to the needs of the program.
Firstly, there are 9 large LED screens distributed behind and on the left and right sides of the stage, wrapped in a "semicircle" shape around the stage. Each screen is spaced several meters apart and designed with different mechanized functions, while meeting more than 70 types of stage props such as "street gate buildings in the legend of Xiang City, gun platforms in the past of Humen, boats in the fishing songs of the Dan family, and mechanical arms in the echoes of the times", which can be quickly switched within a limited time.
Secondly, there are multiple moving tracks installed on the stage, and the robotic arm can carry the actors to perform along the tracks. The multimedia screen can also move along the tracks to open and close. The smooth track flow and the mechanical stage equipment are perfectly combined to achieve the dynamic effect of "running" on the stage.
In addition, some parts of the stage can be raised, rotated, or moved to create different spatial forms and visual effects for performances. In some dance programs, the lifting and rotation of the stage can be coordinated with the actors' dance movements to enhance the artistic appeal of the performance.
What is the scene of "Moon on the Sea"
Highlights of Stage Design
Unlike traditional evening parties, this Mid Autumn Festival Gala has set up the stage on the coast, immersing the audience in the moonlit night by the seaside. The top ten original programs interpret the unique charm of Guanyi culture through the combination of "culture+technology", reproducing the magnificent scene of the poet's "moon on the sea", and creating an audio-visual feast of "art+technology".
The full moon climbs onto the stage
The seaside of Dongguan Coast Bay New Area, as a natural stage background, has endowed this Mid Autumn Festival Gala with unique charm. When night falls, a bright moon slowly rises, reflecting on the vast sea, as if reproducing the magnificent scene of the poet's "moon on the sea". The waves gently hit the coast, and the gentle breeze brushes against the face. The audience is immersed in this picturesque scenery, feeling the perfect fusion of nature and art. The unique geographical location of Coast Bay New Area allows audiences to appreciate the grandeur and beauty of the sea while enjoying performances. Here, the sea and sky merge into one color, and the bright moon hangs high, creating a romantic and mysterious atmosphere for the party.
Integration of culture and technology
This Mid Autumn Festival Gala perfectly integrates Guanyi culture, trendy culture, and modern technology, showcasing the infinite charm of science and technology innovation in Dongguan. The appearance of China-Chic machine armour and mechanical arm group has become a highlight on the stage. The addition of these high-tech elements not only adds visual impact to the performance, but also reflects Dongguan's achievements in technological innovation. The integration of Guanyi culture and trendy culture also fills the evening party with a sense of the times. From traditional dance performances to modern technological displays, from ancient stories to trendy elements, this evening party cleverly combines different cultural elements together, presenting a wonderful audio-visual feast for the audience.
Intangible cultural heritage elements add color
The integration of Dongguan intangible cultural heritage elements such as the Grass Dragon Dance, Puppet Show, and Thousand Horn Lantern Festival has added a strong cultural heritage to the evening party. The performance of the Dancing Grass Dragon is magnificent, with the dragon's body dancing as if telling the bravery and resilience of the people of Dongguan. Puppet shows attract the audience's attention with their exquisite skills and vivid performances. The dazzling brilliance of the thousand corner lamp makes the stage shine brightly. The addition of these intangible cultural heritage elements enables interaction on and off stage, allowing audiences to not only enjoy exciting performances but also personally experience the charm of Dongguan's traditional culture. The combination of intangible cultural heritage elements and modern stage technology brings the ultimate audio-visual enjoyment to the audience, and also revitalizes Dongguan's traditional culture in the new era.
Where does the story of Dongguan start
The First Village in the Pearl River Delta
The 2024 Dongguan Mid Autumn Festival Gala starts with "Moon Reflecting on Oyster Hill" and tells the history of Dongguan. Haogang is considered as the "first village in the Pearl River Delta", and the evening party takes this as a starting point to trace the historical origins of Dongguan, showcasing the tremendous changes that Dongguan has undergone from being the "first village in the Pearl River Delta" to a modern and vibrant city.
The entire evening party consists of 4 chapters and covers 10 exciting programs. It also went through "Dongguan Grass and Green Field", "Quejin New Legend", "Fragrant Market Legend", "Humen Past", "Danjia Fishing Song", "Echoes of the Times", "Dragon Racing for Brocade", "One Bay Tide Rise", and so on. Finally, it ended with "Bay Area Full Moon" warm and beautiful.
These programs showcase Dongguan's history, culture, folk customs, and the development of the times from different perspectives. They use various cutting-edge technological methods and stage design effects, as well as large multimedia screens that open and close, holographic projection changes, prop movements, and lighting changes to achieve rapid scene transitions.
Dynamic lighting
The color matching of the lighting is a major highlight of the stage design for this evening party. In the reunion festival of Mid Autumn Festival, warm colors dominate, and Dongguan's cultural elements and characteristics are also integrated into the selection of lighting colors. Golden, warm orange, and soft red lights complement each other, resembling lively poetry, outlining the weight of history, modern vitality, and the peace of Mid Autumn Festival.
Holographic projection technology
Using projection lighting, various patterns and images are projected onto the stage background and ground to complement the performance content. For example, when performing the historical scene of destructed opium in Humen, the scene will project smoke filled with gunpowder and flames of war on the stage background, so that the audience can more intuitively feel the solemn and stirring of that period of history; During the performance of 'Fragrant Market Legend', the lively scenes of ancient markets are projected onto the ground, making the audience feel as if they have traveled through time and space, immersing themselves in the ancient Ya Xiang Street market.
Diversified props
The variety of props used in this evening party includes Humen Fort, thousand corner lights, Guan grass products, Loong Boat element props, etc. that reflect the history and culture, Xiang City props that show local characteristics, Dan family fishing song props, mechanical arms and armor full of sense of science and technology, intelligent lighting props, and interactive props that create atmosphere. These props are skillfully used, and the thousand corner lights tell the ancient cultural heritage of Dongguan. The Loong Boat props show the traditional folk culture, and the mechanical arm expresses the modern science and technology culture. The interactive props create a happy atmosphere of reunion, and comprehensively present the cultural characteristics of Dongguan's diverse and inclusive.
The 2024 Mid Autumn Festival Gala in Dongguan is like a dreamlike cultural journey. From the ancient Oyster Hill to the modern Bay Area, the program's chapters are like the glory of time, playing the melody of Dongguan walking with the times and coexisting with nature. During the reunion festival, it tells the story and emotions of this city to the world.
