Aeroflot's unique show for the New Year

To usher in 2015, Aeroflot, Russia’s national airline and largest aviation company, presented the city of St Petersburg with a seasonal celebration in the form of an exclusive show, the New Year Journey video projection. The event, which ran from December 28, 2014 to January 7, 2015, right in the heart of the city in Palace Square, was made possible thanks to technical support from ETC Russia.

Thirty-six 3DLP Christie Roadster S+20K and Roadster S+22K-J projectors with light output of 20,000 and 22,000 lumens respectively were used to project video onto the facade of the Winter Palace, a span of more than one hundred meters.

People strolling through Palace Square on those winter evenings could accompany Grandfather Frost (the Russian equivalent of Father Christmas) and the show’s characters on a virtual sleigh ride to corners of the globe. Russia, India and Cuba, Armenia and China, Azerbaijan and Vietnam, Serbia, and back to Russia – a kaleidoscope of beautiful pictures and images symbolic of different countries was displayed for all to see. The projection mapping content was developed by the famous Russian team Sila Sveta.

The light show continued on New Year’s Eve too, and culminated on January 6 with a third VJ performance from Cyber Tiger, also famous from the Light Festivals of the last two years.

Commenting on the event, Ruslan Semenov, ETC General Director Russia, said, “We were delighted to be involved in the projection mapping in Palace Square, St Petersburg and enormously grateful to LBL for giving us this opportunity. In spite of the severe St Petersburg winter weather, with the thermometer showing minus 20 degrees Celsius and below, everything went extremely well. We always know we can rely on Christie technology.”