The Legacy Edition!

In 2019 we not only surprised the employees of Cegeka by bringing a daring 'Steampunk' concept into a festival vibe. (https://vimeo.com/344289669). After a mandatory standby in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID epidemic, it was game on again in June 2022!

And not just any match, on the contrary, rather the Champions League final of staff parties! After all, Cegeka has built up a good reputation over the past decade, not only in the IT field, but also in parties for its employees!

After several discussions with the internal organization team, Cegeka opted for a 'Legacy Edition'. Legacy, because since Cegeka originally started as a local company in Limburg, it has developed into a real multinational with more than 5,000 employees! However, the family values ​​always remain the number one priority and are carefully guarded by the Knaepen family. A real legacy indeed! 'The Nineties' was chosen as the common thread throughout the concept, since Cegeka saw the light of day in 1992.

Top Venue

The location was also carefully selected, a car park surrounded by greenery at the Cegeka Arena, home of football club KRC Genk. Cegeka has been the name sponsor of the stadium since 2021. We therefore thought it was an excellent opportunity to give all Cegeka employees in the Benelux a look behind the scenes of this football temple. However, we couldn't just let them walk through the stadium in one go … After all, moving around some 3,000 people is not obvious, even in a top venue like the Cegeka Arena. The theme of 'Legacy' was also on display here, because during the experience walk, subtle references were made to the five key moments in the company's 30 years of existence. No standard rollup banners, but always a creative act related to a certain year or special moment in the company’s history.

Strong Operations

To host such an event, it is obvious that you need to be prepared … Applying for permits, supply of electricity, water, and drainage. All this must be coordinated with the local authorities, utility companies, etc. The entire process was therefore flawlessly carried out by our operational team from A to Z. In concrete terms, this meant looking for sewer covers 200m from the venue with 'DW' on it, installing a standpipe and calculating the capacity for the generators. So, everything was prepared down to the last detail by our team. Perfect coordination and calculations are therefore not an unnecessary luxury ... hot meal catering for 3,000 participants, two music stages, … A power breakdown during an international deejay act, is something you certainly want to avoid!

D-Day

June 17 was therefore marked in the agenda of more than 3,000 employees (from Belgium and the Netherlands) and in that of more than 40 suppliers and artists. Expectations were high for everyone…. For the suppliers who guaranteed a production with a sky-high WOW factor, for the employees who were completely in the dark, especially when an international top act with mystery guests was announced ...

Experience Tour

From the start, the event turned out to be a great success, because no less than 2,950 Cegeka employees opted for the experience tour and not the Fastlane. In other words, the employees were very curious to discover the partnership between Cegeka and KRC Genk! Afterwards, they were immersed in a 90s festival vibe, including Ferris wheel, festival tent, mainstages, beach area, creative corner, arcade game room, live music stage, retro area, etc. Since it was the very first time that Cegeka also introduced their new Dutch colleagues and invited them, they also had to feel at home in the concept and the line-up. So here too, Way2events provided a wonderful mix of artists and deejays!

Highlight

It gradually built up in crescendo towards 11 p.m., including Cegeka’s own 'Love Parade' act! Until suddenly all the lights were extinguished to let Mystery Guests Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike pull out all the stops! The legendary deejays, world famous from Ibiza to Australia, blasted their music sets through the speakers with flair.

Daring? Yes and no… Thanks to the perfect vibe and structure, everyone was ready for launch. The deejays as well, because three days later they would re-open the doors of their illustrious club ‘Ushuaia’ in Ibiza. So, after a 2-year drought, it was a special general repetition for them too! When you see the entire venue move from left to right, after the open mouths in awe had closed and the thousands of smartphones had been put away, you realize this is LEGENDARY… However, the best moment for Way2events happened when the Cegeka management, including its driving force André Knaepen, cast a glance from the stage at the crowd … “Did you expect this?”, we asked them. Glowing with pride and full of emotion came the most beautiful answer you can get as an agency … “No, not at all …”

The days after the event, the Belgian press also picked up the news with a front-page article in Het Belang van Limburg. Also, Het Nieuwsblad, Gazet van Antwerpen and De Standaard published articles about this 'staff festival'. The event exploded on social media as well with thousands of videos, photos and likes.

Cegeka celebrating 30 Years, The Legacy Edition: simply legendary!