Background

For over 64 years, the Baalbeck International Festival has been a global symbol of music and culture. Set in Lebanon’s 3,000-year-old Roman temples, it stands as a beacon of resilience, reflecting the country’s spirit through times of conflict, corruption, and crisis. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic threatened to silence the festival for the first time in its history. With lockdowns and social distancing forcing events worldwide to cancel, we faced one urgent question: How do you keep the music alive when no audience can attend?

Idea

We turned absence into presence by creating the #SoundOfResilience: an audience-less concert in Baalbeck’s historic temples, broadcast live across TV, radio, and digital platforms. Instead of gathering 3,000 people onsite, we invited millions around the world to join in by simply raising the volume from their homes. The stage remained intact, the orchestra played, and the world listened, proving that resilience is louder than silence.

Execution

On July 5, 2020, the Lebanese Philharmonic Orchestra performed a one-hour concert inside the iconic ruins, with zero audience physically present. Yet, through unprecedented collaboration with 10 local and regional broadcasters (including LBCI, MTV, TL, MBC4, OTV, NBN, and Shahid VIP), the concert aired in prime time nationwide and streamed globally online. A countdown campaign built anticipation across TV and social platforms, while projections of the concert lit up the Lebanese National Museum and outdoor public spaces.

Results

The campaign transformed a local festival into a global cultural moment:

• 43 million viewers worldwide, versus the venue’s 3,000-seat capacity

• 650 million impressions in just 3 days, trending #1 across Twitter and Instagram

• Coverage in 150+ international publications, including The Washington Post, The Guardian, CNN, and Euronews

• $10 million in earned media value

• 26% growth in social media followers and 160% growth in YouTube subscribers

• Ranked as the #1 most-watched concert of all time in Lebanon

Impact

The Sound of Resilience was more than a concert, it was a collective act of defiance against despair. By fusing heritage, music, and technology, we revived Baalbeck’s spirit, gave Lebanon a voice when it was struggling to be heard, and proved that even in silence, resilience resounds.