Event management specialist Stadium delivered a “hugely complex logistical operation” by kicking off the Coventry City of Culture celebrations to thousands in the city’s streets last week, organisers said.

Coventry-based Stadium was hired to create the traffic management plan and deploy staff to carry out the City of Culture signature event Coventry Moves, which was rescheduled from 15 May to 5 June due to Covid-19.

Stadium used more than 100 members of staff to allow three processions to move through the city’s streets. The parades closed 400 roads over a 12-hour period and featured 1960s cars, dancers, musicians and bicycles.

Coventry 2021 used seven different radio stations including BBC CWR for people to tune into the event.

According to Coventry Live. the event was watched in 88 countries, with the Coventry 2021 Facebook livestream reaching an estimated 164,931 people.

Stadium managing director Scott Metcalfe (pictured) said, “The processions really drew people out into their gardens and the roadside, and the event was really well received. People entered into the spirit of the occasion and it got the City of Culture year off to a great start.”

City of Culture head of event operations Hector Macpherson Brown said, “There was a very careful balance to strike, in developing an event that was deliverable in a time of Covid restrictions, and continually evolving planning to meet the ever-changing landscape.”

He added, “The event involved a hugely complex logistical operation, with a focus on traffic management, involving hundreds of performers, alongside dozens of vehicles and horses– with the main thrust of the day to bring the celebration into local communities.

“Stadium struck that balance perfectly and pulled off what was a very complex and constantly evolving exercise. They played a part in what was a really successful and enjoyable day.”

Among the events to take place as part of Coventry City of Culture is the free-to-attend Coventry Welcomes Festival from 14-21 June, which will celebrate the city’s “heritage, traditions and diversity”.

This is followed by CVX Festival from 12-15 August, an activism festival curated by young people in the city that coincides with International Youth Day.