LIVE EVENT
City of Tampa
A 320-foot 3D projection-mapped treasure chest down the side of Tampa’s iconic Rivergate Tower — the “Beer Can Building” — for the City of Tampa’s first “New Yarrgh’s Eve” celebration. Pirate-themed New Year’s tradition. Featured on Good Morning America the next morning. Architectural projection on a 320-foot cylindrical tower face. Multi-month design; on-the-night live execution.
Tampa’s local culture is heavily pirate-themed — the city hosts the world’s largest pirate parade every year. So when the City of Tampa wanted a Times-Square-scale moment to ring in 2020, they didn’t drop a ball. They dropped a treasure chest. Pixel Rain projection-mapped a 320-foot pirate treasure chest down the side of Rivergate Tower, the cylindrical 454-foot office tower that dominates the downtown skyline.
The projection
The full 320-foot span of Rivergate Tower’s curved façade got the chest, 9 PM through midnight on December 31, 2019. Cylindrical surface projection mapping is its own technical challenge — the geometry isn’t flat, the alignment can’t drift, and a busy downtown street vantage means no second take. The chest “dropped” at midnight as the city’s pirate-themed answer to the Times Square ball drop.
The street response
The takeaway moment from local coverage: crowds in Curtis Hixon Park yelling “Booty Drop!” back at the tower. The next morning, Good Morning America aired the segment and New York viewers shouted the name back at the broadcast — the kind of organic spotlight that justifies the event itself.
Mayor Castor's framing
“In Tampa, we don’t drop the ball on City traditions — but we will be dropping a treasure chest instead.” — Mayor Jane Castor
By the numbers
320 FT
TREASURE CHEST
GMA
FEATURE
NYE 2019
INTO 2020
Partners
City of Tampa · client.
Tampa Downtown Partnership · event coordination .
Amgen · iHeartMedia · Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino · presenting sponsors.
Pixel Rain Digital · projection mapping production partner.
