Brief

Create an arena for Red Bull at the 2007 Glastonbury Festival, building on the original Saloon 25 concept from 2005. Red Bull’s Glastonbury venue has always been Saloon 25, a wild west themed bar with stage which runs from 10am – 3am, showcasing the latest acts from the cutting edge music scenes. Sledge took Saloon 25 to the next level, creating a lively and open space for all of Glastonbury to enjoy.

Objective

Red Bull aren’t an official sponsor of the festival or any stage so we needed to be clever in the execution of this structure in order to maximise effectiveness. They wanted an imposing and memorable space to be created which would bring the brand to festival in a low key but memorable way and create a venue which would have the press and festival goers talking all about Saloon 25. The venue also had to include a food concession, media/press area and VIP area for all acts.

Solution

Saloon 25, a 1,200 capacity wild west themed bar with a main stage which runs from 10am – 3am throughout the festival, showcasing the latest acts from the cutting edge music scenes. Inside the venue we utilised two Red Bull Airstream bars which served Red Bull infusion cocktails and had a hog roast servery catering area – all dressed to fit with the Wild West theme. The interior of the venue was wallpapered with limited edition Zoltar prints commissioned by Red Bull and an eclectic mix of old prints in frames. Outside the venue we provided picnic tables and the exterior was clad in a wooden fascia dressed to look like a saloon bar. On top of this two-storey fascia a balcony was built on which character actors played out Wild West scenes to the amusement of all passers by. Backstage a yurt style tent was erected for VIP’s and performers and a double length Airstream was used as a venue HQ and media centre.

Results

By working with Red Bull to provide a truly unique space and venue we enabled them to build successfully on the Saloon 25 brand and become a true meeting space for all festival goers due to our excellent location and the imposing and recognisable structure. The venue played host to over 16,000 guests across the weekend and showcased the cream of the underground scene for four days and nights. The headline set by upcoming band Reverend and The Makers had us full to capacity inside the venue and with approximately an addition 800 people watching from outside, in fact, this set was heralded by Radio 1 as one of their highlights of the festival.