Vodafone Joins Forces With Mayor Of London For World's First Multi-Sensory Fireworks Display

Thousands of people attending the Mayor of London’s New Year’s Eve celebrations will experience a show unlike any other as Vodafone helps create a display they will be able to taste and smell, as well as see.

Vodafone is joining forces with the Mayor for the unique New Year's Eve celebration, which will be experienced not just by spectators crowded along the banks of the River Thames, but by millions more watching the event at home on television.

For the newly announced collaboration, Vodafone is bringing an extra dimension to the pyrotechnic and lighting display, which attracts capacity crowds and is seen by millions of people across the country and around the world. Working with food scientists Bompas and Parr, there will be a host of special effects involving sight, sound, fruit flavours and fruit smells which, combined with the pyrotechnic and lighting display, will create a multi-sensory experience for thousands of people in key viewing areas.

Vodafone will also be launching the first-ever London New Year’s Eve fireworks app, which will use the smartphone camera and display to offer people all over the world an augmented reality experience synchronised with the display on the banks of the River Thames. The app, available 24 hours before New Year, will come alive for the first time when the New Year, 2014, begins at midnight GMT, adding to the experience of watching the fireworks display on television. It is free and will be available to download from the Apple iOS App Store and Google Play from midnight on 30 December 2013.

Vodafone Firsts

Vodafone's partnership with the Mayor of London to bring the world's first multi-sensory fireworks display to London marks the beginning of the company's new global brand engagement strategy, "Vodafone Firsts". "Firsts" focuses on a simple concept: that Vodafone's technology and connectivity can enable and inspire people to do something amazing for the first time, from making their first call to sharing their first video. Further details of "Vodafone Firsts" can be found at:
http://www.vodafone.com/content/index/media/vodafone-group-releases/2013/vodafone-announces-vodafone-firsts-new-global-brand-engagement.html

Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, said: “London has a reputation for creativity and innovation, seeing things differently and experimenting. As we herald the start of 2014, there is no better time than this to launch a project like Firsts with Vodafone. London is after all a city of firsts and this new approach to our New Year's Eve celebrations will add to the magic on the night, whether experienced at home or in town.”

Martin Green, Head of Brand Engagement at Vodafone and the former Head of Ceremonies for London 2012, said: “We are delighted to work with the Mayor of London to bring a fantastic experience to Londoners for the first time and to use Vodafone’s technology to bring the excitement of the world’s best fireworks display in to people’s living rooms.”

Sam Bompas, food scientist, said: “The concept of the world's first multi-sensory fireworks display came from researching grand historic spectacles. We realised nothing of the sort had been attempted before and that it would be a genuine world first. A project of this scale involves specialist pyrotechnicians, flavour scientists, musicians, engineers and health and safety experts - and Vodafone brought it all together."

The Mayor of London's New Year's Eve fireworks display is always enormously popular, attracting a capacity crowd. There is a long wait in the designated viewing areas along the Thames and access to each zone will be closed as soon as it is full. Central London is also very busy, so with the crowds and waiting times people with young children may wish to consider celebrating New Year closer to home – the display will be broadcast in full by the BBC. For those out and about the best way to get across the capital will be public transport, with free travel on bus, Tube, tram, DLR and on London Overground.

For more information, contact:

Vodafone Group
Media Relations
+44 (0) 1635 664444

Peter O’Shea
peter.o’shea@ogilvy.com
+44 (0)20 7309 1163

Mayor of London
Media Relations
Ben McKnight
communitydesk@london.gov.uk
+44 (0)20 7983 4071 / +44 (0)7881 501 920

About Vodafone
Vodafone is one of the world's largest telecommunications companies with approximately 411 million customers in its controlled and jointly controlled markets as of 30 September 2013. Vodafone has equity interests in telecommunications operations in nearly 30 countries and around 50 partner networks worldwide. For more information, please visit: www.vodafone.com

About Bompas & Parr
From just Sam Bompas and Harry Parr in 2007, when Bompas & Parr was founded, the studio has rapidly grown to its current structure in response to the possibility of generating a wide range of projects. The studio now consists of a team of about 10 people, from cooks and specialised technicians, to architects, graphic designers, and administrators. They work with Sam and Harry to experiment, develop, produce, and install projects, artworks, jellies and exhibitions, as well as archiving, communicating, and contextualising the work. Additional to the projects realised in-house, Bompas & Parr contract structural engineers and other specialists, and collaborate with curators, cultural practitioners, and scientists. Bompas & Parr has exhibited at Barbican Art Gallery, Garage Center for Contemporary Culture, Salon del Mobile, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Serpentine Gallery, Victoria & Albert Museum and the Wellcome Collection.

Mayor’s Fireworks Display
The Mayor of London's New Year's Eve fireworks display can be viewed live on BBC 1. The event is always enormously popular and each year it attracts a capacity crowd who have a long wait in the designated viewing areas along the Thames. Access to each zone will be closed as soon as it is full. Central London is very busy, so with the crowds and waiting times people with young children may wish to consider celebrating New Year closer to home. Information can be found at www.london.gov.uk/nye.

Travel information
Public transport will be the best way to get around the capital on New Year's Eve. Diageo will once again provide free travel on New Year’s Eve so that festive party goers can get home safely. Free travel will be available between 23:45 on 31 December and 04:30 on 1 January on the Tube, buses, trams, DLR, and until last trains on London Overground. Further information is available at www.tfl.gov.uk/festive.