VE Day 2025 marked the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, with commemorative events taking place around the UK. In Central London, the official VE Day procession by regiments of the British Armed Forces would embark on a route beginning in Parliament Square before travelling along Whitehall and The Mall, finishing at the Queen Victoria Memorial outside Buckingham Palace.
The procession’s sprawling footprint would provide a number of logistical challenges for Identity Global, who project managed the event, not least ensuring the delivery of reliable, high-quality audio coverage across the various locations. To meet the challenge, Identity entrusted its long-term partner Delta Live.
Identity Global has delivered projects for the likes of Google, Netflix, and the United Nations’ (UN) COP28. It was at the UN’s COP26 event in Glasgow where its relationship with Delta Live was born, since then the partners have collaborated on the delivery of audio solutions for the Mayor of London New Years Eve Celebration, Trooping the Colour, and the Coronation of King Charles III in 2023.
Their partnership on high profile events across Central London put them in good stead for what lay ahead with VE Day 2025. The brief was for Delta Live to deliver the PA systems and control packages for locations at Parliament Square and all along the processional route covering some two kilometers along Whitehall, Trafalgar Square, and The Mall. The team also provided the PA for the Royal Box at the Queen Victoria Memorial.
One of the main challenges of the project, according to Delta Live’s head of projects, Julian Jones, was getting signal to the Parliament Square and Trafalgar Square locations from its control base in nearby Green Park. “This required the installation of an audio-over-IP (AoIP) network so that we could reliably transport signal around the event footprint,” he explained. As well as streamlining installation and costs, AoIP enables the reliable (and low latency) transmission of audio over long distances while maintaining signal quality, an important component for such a high-profile event.
The network was installed and managed by event communications systems specialist, Pylon One, while the communications and zoned announcement systems were supplied by Team Audio. The systems along Whitehall were installed by Electronic Audio Systems.
The PA equipment featured L-Acoustics KARA II long-throw loudspeakers, along with L-Acoustics X8 and X12 two-way passive point source speakers stationed around the event footprint, providing rich, full-range audio for all audience areas. The system was controlled by a mirrored pair of DiGiCo SD 10 digital mixing consoles.
“The L-Acoustics package is a trusted system for this type of event, as we know we can rely on the quality and coverage that the KARA and X8s/12s will give us for the various audience areas,” said Jones. “The DiGiCo desks give us the flexibility and power we need to run the show with confidence. It’s a technology combination that we know and trust.”
In total, the operation was managed by 13 Delta Live crew. “We had three engineers looking after the system at Parliament Square, two at Trafalgar Square, and another two managing the links between those locations and Green Park Control,” adds Jones. “We had two at control in Green Park, one person running the system in the Royal Box, one project manager, and two engineers on standby.”
Of the several high-profile locations at which the teams were stationed, Jones explained that The Mall proved to be the most challenging. “The set-up on The Mall is always unique, especially when the weather is as glorious as it was. The road isn’t closed off to traffic or the public/tourists and so we are working in a very busy environment. We also have to work around The Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace when the road is closed to allow military movement, and no work along The Mall is permitted while it takes place.”
For an operation with so many logistical challenges to overcome – one of which being the two-month timeframe in which Delta Live had to design, test, and implement a fully reliable system – it was delivered, without a hitch, drawing special praise from Identity Global’s VE80 project director, Nat Reeves.
“Huge thanks to the Delta Live team for their support on the VE programme,” she said. “The flexibility, professionalism and accessibility of the team made it a brilliant working relationship and ensured we were able to successfully connect the event.
“The team is always great to work with and we especially appreciate the responsiveness and engagement as the scope developed. We’re already looking forward to the next one.”
The London VE Day celebrations marked the latest chapter of the growing and successful partnership between Identity Global and Delta Live and proved yet another showcase of the latter’s expertise in delivering flawless solutions, under pressure, for the highest profile events.
