Hidden Sleep’s Hill Tunnel awakens at Adelaide Fringe with mesmerizing visual installation

As one of the signature projects of Adelaide Fringe 2024 (the largest arts festival in the Southern Hemisphere), Sleep’s Hill Tunnel opened to the public for the first time in 145 years.  The event location offered a canvas for creative expression with meticulously curated audiovisual activations to tell the remarkable history of this railway tunnel that once linked Adelaide to Melbourne. With Barco projection solutions at the helm, Novatech embraced the challenge of transforming this historic space into a mesmerizing journey for telling the rich history of the Tunnels in creative ways.

Context

Held over four weeks during February and March, Adelaide Fringe is the biggest arts festival in the Southern Hemisphere and the second biggest arts festival in the globe. This festival of cultural celebration annually draws over 6,000 independent artists to South Australia selling over one million tickets, fostering a vibrant atmosphere of creativity and diversity.

Nestled along the tracks of the historic Adelaide to Melbourne rail line, Sleep’s Hill Tunnel served as one of this year’s Adelaide Fringe installations, offering a glimpse into its rich history. With unique time-lapse imagery and immersive projections, visitors got to explore the storied past of the 377-metre-long tunnel in seven different zones taking them from the steam train era to its mushroom farm years. 

Challenge

Navigating the spatial constraints of the arched Sleep’s Hill Tunnel presented a formidable challenge. Novatech Creative Event Technology, official Innovation Partner of Adelaide Fringe 2024 providing the full audiovisual production of the festival’s signature projects, sought to design a system that could seamlessly integrate into the tunnel's unique architecture while delivering captivating visuals from various artists across its diverse zones in an immersive experience that resonated with audiences of all ages.

Solution

With the G62 just recently added to their creative arsenal, Novatech, in collaboration with the other event stakeholders, set out to weave a narrative that intertwined the tunnel's storied past with contemporary artistry. The Barco G-series projectors bring uncompromised laser projection at a very competitive pricing. Thanks to the uniform compact size and ultra-short throw lenses, these models allow for optimal configuration in the multi-channel set-up.

"Adding the Barco G62 projectors to the Novatech fleet marks a significant milestone representing the largest purchase of G-series from a staging company in Australia,” says Rohesh Raju, Business Development Manager at Barco Australia. “With their optimal blend of quality and versatility, the Barco projectors proved to be the perfect ally for a captivating mapping in the confines of Sleep’s Hill Tunnel.”

Results

The transformation of Sleep’s Hill Tunnel was a great example of the Adelaide Fringe festival's commitment to inclusivity and innovation. It not only culminated into an unforgettable experience for the festival’s audiences but also earned the prestigious Best of Film, Digital & Interactive Award at Adelaide Fringe in its inaugural week.

The deployment of Barco G62 projectors proved to be a game-changer for Sleep’s Hill Tunnel and Novatech alike. According to Ashley Gabriel, Director of Sales & Marketing at Novatech, “the G62s are great value for money and fill a gap in our portfolio with a nice mid-strength projector that would suit a variety of applications going forward.”