Groupe Novelty Companies Unite on Pope Leo XIV's Monaco Visit

	Groupe Novelty's installation for Pope Leo XIV's visit in Monaco. Photo: Monaco Broadcast.

Pope Leo XIV arrived in Monaco on March 28, marking the first papal apostolic visit in the contemporary era. The day's program featured a series of official and spiritual gatherings. The pope was welcomed at the Palais Princier by Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene. Following a private audience, the prince and the pope addressed the crowds assembled on the Place du Palais from the palace balcony. The pope then travelled by Popemobile to the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception for a prayer gathering with the local Catholic community, before proceeding to the Eglise Sainte-Devote for a meeting with young people. The day concluded at the Stade Louis II, where a pontifical mass was celebrated for 15,000 worshippers before the Pope's return to Rome.

The visit's technical production was entrusted to four specialist companies from Groupe Novelty. The group's teams were deployed simultaneously across the Stade Louis II, the Cathedrale de Monaco, the Place du Palais, the Place Sainte-Devote, and the Musee Oceanographique, delivering a complete technical infrastructure designed to meet the ceremonial, logistical, and broadcast requirements of the occasion.

Mediacom by Dushow led technical coordination and video across all sites. Dushow provided staging, sound reinforcement, and electrical distribution. DushowTV was responsible for lighting design and delivery, while Magnum Power supplied the power infrastructure through generator sets positioned across the venues.

"To be entrusted with this technical production is a milestone for our group. It's the first Papal visit in nearly five centuries, with millions watching a single day unfold," says Dushow general director Christian Lorenzi. "Our teams understood the responsibility that this carried. And our role was to ensure the technology served the moment while remaining totally invisible and functioning flawlessly."

The Stade Louis II served as the primary venue for the afternoon's pontifical Mass, attended by the faithful, dignitaries, and media from across the region. The technical setup was developed in close collaboration with Monaco Broadcast, the Gouvernement de Monaco, the Palais Princier de Monaco, and the Diocese de Monaco, whose operational and ceremonial requirements shaped the design and placement of each element.

Beyond the Stade Louis II, the group's teams provided technical installations tailored to the character and scale of each ceremony. At the Place du Palais, the installation ensured clear audio and visual coverage for the crowds attending the balcony address. At the Cathedrale de Monaco and the Eglise Sainte-Dévote, configurations were adapted to the intimate scale and architectural constraints of sacred spaces hosting gatherings of a different character to the stadium Mass.

"No two venues had the same requirements. With teams operating across Monaco simultaneously, constant communication was key," Lorenzi says. "We ensured we kept a single technical direction, while adapting our work site by site."

The integration of four brands within a single operational structure was central to delivering an event of this scope and complexity. With more than 50 years of combined event production expertise, Groupe Novelty's multi-brand model brought a unified technical direction to a project that spanned video, staging, sound, lighting, and power simultaneously across multiple ceremonial venues. Groupe Novelty has a permanent presence in Monaco, a long-standing relationship with major events in the principality, and teams with direct experience of the logistical demands that come with operating across Monaco's compact and closely managed streets.

"This project demonstrates exactly what our model at Groupe Novelty was built for. This project had four brands and one operational structure covering video, sound, lighting, staging, and power across five different venues on that day," Lorenzi says. "Our permanent presence in Monaco and our longstanding relationships there meant we arrived not as visitors, but as partners who understood the context and what was at stake.

"This was one of the most demanding productions our teams have delivered in Monaco. And it's one that we're most proud of," reflects Lorenzi. "I can't thank everyone enough who helped us mobilize across the sites. This project confirms what Groupe Novelty can offer for events of the highest cultural, institutional, and ceremonial importance. We're ready -- anywhere, any time, and at any scale."