The success of the celebration of the Copa del América will be measured by the degree of involvement of citizens in the event and by Barcelona's ability to take advantage of it and project itself to the world, as it has done so many other times. For this reason, beyond its unquestionable impact on the sporting level, the Barcelona Capital Nàutica Foundation, led by the City Council, is preparing an agenda of activities to publicize the America's Cup among the people of Barcelona and an opening ceremony to wrap up the event. one of the international events that will mark this year's agenda. The gala will be a show with light, drones and pyrotechnics and where music will have a main role with names like Silvia Pérez-Cruz and Bad Gyal.
The opening ceremony, scheduled for October 10, will mark the turning point of the celebration of the America's Cup, which, in reality, will have begun earlier, at the end of August, with the Challenger Selection Series (in which the five challenging teams; the winner will face the current defenders of the trophy, Emirates Team New Zealand). After the opening gala, the most intense days: the finals of the Women's and Youth America's Cups and the long-awaited America's Cap Match will be played.
Sea, wind and sail, the three essential elements of the considered Formula 1 of the sea, will also be the axes of the show that is being prepared. The Barcelona company Focus, whose group manages the Teatre Romea, the Condal, the Goya and the Villarroel, among others, heads the temporary union of companies (UTE) in charge of organizing the gala and which also includes the Lavinia Group (specializing in the audiovisual industry), the creative studio Igor (expert in the creation of music and video) and the company Flock Drone Art, which already carried out the last pyromusical of La Mercè 2023.
The gala is currently planned as a single musical work that will serve as the guiding thread of the entire show. During the process of creating the ceremony, on which work began months ago, the possibility of hiring an internationally renowned star was considered to give maximum global relevance to the event. In the contract for the ceremony, to which La Vanguardia has had access, the musical commitment that is proposed and is being negotiated would be carried out by two of the Catalan artists with the most impact at an international level: Silvia Pérez-Cruz and Bad Gyal. With the contrast of their two styles, the aim is to magnify the message of the show and reach a more transversal audience. As the culmination of the show, an epic finale that will pivot on the central structure of the gala and that is expected to be commissioned from the composer and pianist Albert Guinovart.
Beyond the artistic story, it is the location of the ceremony that adds spectacularity to the proposal. The stage will be raised on the Mar Bella breakwater and will be oriented towards Bogatell beach, from where spectators will have the best view of the gala. The assembly is designed in such a way that it will appear that it is floating on the water, an element that has been considered the protagonist from the first moment.
In fact, in the initial design phase of the ceremony, several possibilities were considered: some in scenarios located on dry land and another option, more ambitious but more linked to the essence of the America's Cup: at sea, where during those days The regattas will be held. After ruling out possible locations in different spaces – it was also considered holding the ceremony inside the mouth –, finally and with the approval of Civil Protection, the Mar Bella breakwater, located next to the Nautical Base, was chosen as the ideal space.
The stage provided for in the Barcelona Capital Náutica AC24 contract measures 110 by 55 meters with a completely ephemeral structure that will change its appearance with spectacular sets of lights, another essential element of the gala. The challenge for the organizers is to achieve, in such an unusual setting for this type of event, a show with maximum visual impact. For this, a great technical deployment is planned to guarantee that both the image and the sound are perfectly perceived from Bogatell beach. In this main stall, where the public will be able to access freely. The organizers estimate that around 30,000 people will be able to watch the ceremony live, although, as in the America's Cup itself, there will be extensive deployment to broadcast the event and also disseminate it through social networks.
The price of the award of the ceremony is 2 million euros, made through the Barcelona Capital Nàutica AC24, the foundation that brings together in its board of directors representatives of all the administrations involved in the celebration of the America's Cup in Barcelona: in addition to the City Council, the Generalitat, the State, the Provincial Council of Barcelona, the Port Authority, the Official Chamber or the Barcelona Tourism Consortium.
The Foundation called a contest of ideas for the design of the opening ceremony of the Copa del América, in which the proposal presented by Focus was selected as the winner. The contract tender was signed just over two weeks ago.
