BLANCHE AT TOURNAI CATHEDRAL: A VISUAL FIRST

Tournai Cathedral had never revealed itself from this angle. Twenty years of restoration on a UNESCO Gothic monument, a city eager to celebrate its renaissance, and a health crisis that made any public gathering impossible. Shadow to Live turned that constraint into a creative opportunity, pitching the City something no one had yet dared to imagine.

The concept emerged from a conversation with the City of Tournai's decision-makers: rather than a conventional event made impossible by restrictions, why not reveal the cathedral from an angle its own residents had never seen? A concert by Blanche, filmed inside the monument itself with unprecedented drone footage, streamed live to reach far beyond the city's borders. Shadow to Live originated the idea, convinced the stakeholders, and took full responsibility for the production.

The challenge was as diplomatic as it was technical. Securing three simultaneous exceptional permits: from the City of Tournai, the Walloon Region and the diocese. No professional audiovisual production had previously obtained all three approvals to fly a drone inside this monument. Shadow to Live led every negotiation and coordinated all institutional stakeholders throughout the process.

To ensure a visual result worthy of the setting, Shadow to Live selected director Arno Partissimo, whose work for DJ Snake and Lost Frequencies sets the standard in the industry. Six cameras and a drone were deployed inside and outside the cathedral, capturing for the first time its Gothic vaults, restored stained glass and night-time silhouette through a cinematic lens. Shadow to Live also handled the booking of Blanche, the Belgian artist who finished 4th in the Eurovision 2017 Grand Final with "City Lights", full technical coordination, and simultaneous broadcast across YouTube, Facebook Live and Vimeo.

The concert aired live on regional television and was featured in the RTBF evening news. Combined with streaming figures across digital platforms, the event reached 265,000 people worldwide, turning the reopening of a Walloon monument into a cultural moment with international reach.

From concept to permit negotiations, team selection to digital distribution, Shadow to Live managed every dimension of this unprecedented project. When a venue says no, we find a way to make it say yes.