How We Closed Regent Street for Gumball 3000

Cars, Crowds, Chaos (and David Hasselhoff)

One of the biggest, boldest productions I ever pulled off was this: we shut down Regent Street in London, yes, the entire stretch from Oxford Circus to Leicester Square, for Gumball 3000.

Picture it: a roaring parade of supercars rolling down what’s usually one of the busiest shopping streets in Europe, transformed into a full-blown spectacle. Thousands lined the

barricades, cameras flashing, people screaming. We had celebrities, DJs, the Mayor of London, a custom-built half-pipe, a Shell vintage petrol station pop-up, brand activations up and down the street, and even a skateboarding demo. The whole thing was a sensory overload—in the best way.

Behind the Barricades: Regent Street Takeove

My team - just three of us - spent months negotiating with the Crown Estate, the trust that manages Regent Street. They only shut it down twice a year, and that year the NFL had already taken one of those slots. We had to prove our worth: detailed plans, ROI projections, full safety briefings. We liaised with Metropolitan Police, city authorities, and the event safety board. Somehow, against the odds, we got the green light.

We mapped every inch. We placed Fiat Abarth displays, ran energy drink activations (including our Gumball x Battery collab), and worked with Hamley's for in-store madness. Music blasted from both ends of the street. David Hasselhoff kicked off the show by climbing on top of his car like a rockstar.

The cars came down from Manchester in a convoy, turned Regent Street into a catwalk, and ended the run at the W Hotel in Leicester Square, where I hosted the check-in, formal dinner, and a party at Cirque, a nearby club I scouted months earlier.

It was madness. It was beautiful. And it was one of the most logistically complex, creatively fulfilling things I’ve ever worked on.