Tales from Chez Bullier with Viking
If Opera is pleased and excited to partner with Viking, one of the world’s foremost ocean and river cruise companies for our unique ‘Tales from Chez Bullier’ event as part of Bath Festivals. Viking have a long history of enrichment programmes on their ships and our partnership is partially to celebrate their programme of Seine River Cruises and the launch of new longships.
Travel companies are often found developing relationships with arts organisations; the connection is fairly obvious in many respects given the way in which travel and foreign cultures embrace the concept of personal enrichment which naturally includes the arts, along with culinary and linguistic exploration. Viking was founded in 1997 and provides destination-focused journeys on rivers, oceans and lakes around the world. Designed for experienced travellers with interests in science, history, culture and cuisine, Chairman Torstein Hagen often says Viking offers guests The Thinking Person's Cruise in contrast to mainstream cruises. With more than 250 awards to its name, Viking was rated the Number 1 River Cruise Line and Number 1 Ocean Cruise Line by Condé Nast Traveller in the publication's 2021 Readers' Choice Awards.
Viking, however, can genuinely claim to put Torstein’s concept into practice as a coherent and absolutely fundamental aspect of their ‘product’. We all think we know about stereotypical cruise ship entertainment but Viking tend to delve a lot deeper into the world of the arts in order to provide cultural pleasures aboard their ships. They even have a TV station that features arts from a huge variety of disciplines. On board, arts and entertainment embraces classical, theatrical, operatic, literary and contemporary art as well as educational interests both in a live setting as well as via digital and cinema formats through their partnerships with organisations like The Met Opera in New York and Ted Talks along with other UK institutions of bewildering variety. On any cruise you are also highly likely to meet and be able to listen to more than one lecturer who is a specialist in the destinations on the cruise. On a recent cruise to the Arctic, an astronomer was on hand to give both lectures and to advise on the best conditions for hunting the elusive aurora borealis.
Karine Hagen, Executive Vice President of the company, is deeply and personally involved in presenting films about various destinations, or interviewing a plethora of cultural guests on Viking TV, so the enrichment programme goes from top to bottom in the company. As a performing arts organisation, it is vital that we understand the needs and expectations of commercial organisations that support us, but conversely, we look for partners who have a core belief in what we do. Viking are sponsors of a number of classical events, major exhibitions and even flower shows so their commitment to the cultural sector is thoroughly established and unquestioned.
If Opera is therefore extremely pleased to engage with a company who give so much time, support and energy to the promotion and sustenance of the arts and looks forward to sharing a great evening at Bath Festival. You can explore Viking and their Seine River Cruises on the following links.
Learn about the longships https://www.vikingrivercruises.co.uk/ships/seine/index.html
Please find details of Viking’s Paris & the Heart of Normandy itinerary here: https://www.vikingrivercruises.co.uk/cruise-destinations/europe/paris-heart-normandy/2022-paris-rouen-paris/index.html
More about what sets Viking apart here: https://www.vikingcruises.co.uk/oceans/why-viking/viking-difference/the-thinking-persons-cruise-line.html