Festival Management in the Field at Hyde Park Winter Wonderland

Every year, a small number of moments stand out as true highlights of our teaching calendar. This visit to Hyde Park Winter Wonderland is firmly one of them.

For our Festival Management students, this was not a day out as spectators. It was a structured, analytical site visit designed to explore one of London’s most complex seasonal events through the eyes of an event manager. From the moment they entered the site, students were encouraged to observe, question and evaluate how a major live festival operates behind the scenes.

Winter Wonderland provides a rare live case study where multiple event disciplines converge in a single environment. Students examined crowd management strategies and visitor flow across peak periods, considering how movement is controlled, bottlenecks are minimised and safety is prioritised without compromising enjoyment. They explored large-scale event production, from infrastructure and staging to technical delivery and operational logistics, all taking place within a public park setting.

Equally important was the analysis of experiential design and consumer experience. Winter Wonderland is carefully curated to feel immersive, festive and seamless, despite its scale.

Students considered how atmosphere is created, how zones are designed for different audiences, and how commercial objectives are balanced with guest satisfaction. These observations form a critical foundation for anyone planning to work in festivals, live events or large-scale public experiences.

What makes Winter Wonderland such an invaluable learning environment is the collision of scale, complexity and creativity.

It demands rigorous planning, agile operations and a deep understanding of audience behaviour, all while delivering a memorable experience to millions of visitors.

Few events offer such a comprehensive, real-world learning opportunity in one place.

This visit perfectly reflects our experiential approach to event education. Serious insight, applied analysis and hands-on observation, combined with the energy and excitement of being immersed in a live event environment. And yes, a lot of fun too!

A true Photo Fave moment, and exactly how experiential learning should feel.