UK - Backup is delighted to announce the much-anticipated date for this year’s Kartfest, and Thursday July 6th is the day to get your best tweed, flowery dress and, if you’re so inclined, Morris Dancing regalia, ready for the Kart-Fest Village Fete.
Tickets will be on sale from 0900hrs on Monday 20 March and it will be very much first come first served. “After an unprecedented demand last year, we are also restricting one Kart per team to make sure as many companies can attend,” says Backup’s Lee Dennison. “We are also placing much more of a focus on the activities on the day for those not racing, so we’re delighted to let you know that the theme for this year will be the good old British Summer Village Fete.”
There will be lots of fun to be had for racers and non-racers alike. More updates will be announced over the coming weeks, so make sure you not o

Germany – LiveTec GmbH, one of Germany’s leading full-service event technology and production specialists, has recently invested in 16 GEN VI power and dimming modules from Australian manufacturer LSC Control Systems, sourced via the company’s exclusive distributor for Germany, LMP Lichttechnik.
Headquartered in Munich, and with branches in Berlin and Kirchberg (near Kitzbühel, in Austria), LiveTec has over 25 years of experience in the production industry, with a focus on the corporate event sector, and has relied on LSC dimming solutions, and its sales partner LMP, for many years. The company had been using the previous model from LSC since 2015, and in 2022 decided that the time had come to upgrade to the new version. The 16 new, advanced GEN VI dimmers have been successfully deployed by LiveTec at trade fairs, film premieres, fashion shows and congresses since No

Bill Toppers - Arctic Monkeys and Guns N' Roses will top the bill at this year's Glastonbury Festival, organisers have announced. The rock bands join previously-announced headliner Sir Elton John, who will play the last UK show of his farewell tour at Worthy Farm in June. Other acts on the line-up include Lizzo, Lana Del Rey, Lil Nas X, Manic Street Preachers, Wizkid and Blondie.
Yusuf, also known as Cat Stevens, will play the ‘legend slot’, previously occupied by Kylie and Dolly Parton. The coveted Sunday afternoon set traditionally draws one of the festival's biggest audiences, with Diana Ross attracting an estimated 80,000 people last year. Blondie will take to the Pyramid stage immediately after Stevens - effectively creating a "double legend" slot.
Eurovision Latest - Fans are preparing for the rush to get hold of coveted tickets for this year's song co

USA - Burbank’s Volt Lites has taken delivery of one of the first large acquisitions of Claypaky Volero Wave fixtures and Panify systems in the US.
“We’re excited to be early adopters of Volero Wave and Panify as we have been in the past with other Claypaky equipment,” notes Harrison Lippman, co-founder of Volt Lites with Matt Shimamoto. “We always try to be ahead of the curve, and when Claypaky showed us Volero Wave and Panify we felt strongly that they would be very powerful and desirable tools for designers and other clients.”
An LED bar with original and innovative features, Volero Wave is comprised of a system of eight independent moving bodies, which offers lighting designers the ability to create original and three-dimensional light scenes within a wide array of projects. The fixtures can be aligned with each other with extreme precision and are easi

Malta - 1 SOUND has signed Black Box Pro to be their dedicated distributor for Malta. 1 Sound hosted David Zammit, CEO of Black Box Pro, and his team for a demonstration in Italy last fall. Lou Mannarino, audio designer of 1 Sound, and Leonardo Dani, 1 Sound EMEA sales executive, showed them the line of loudspeakers and gave some training.
1 Sound joins the list of brands distributed by Black Box, such as Behringer, DiGiCo, Devialet, and Solid State Logic.
The distributorship was made official at ISE, where David Zammit and colleague Sandro Sammut visited 1 Sound’s booth, happy to get their hands on the product and sign the contract.
“We are very excited to have Black Box on board as a distributor for Malta. They are one of the key players on the island, with a proven reputation and many records in performances during recent years,” says Leonardo Dani, 1 S

UK - Audio consultancy and networking expert RH Consulting (RHC) has been counting networked audio products and licensees since 2013 to chart the adoption of audio networking in the pro audio, AV and broadcast markets. RHC has compiled the 11th edition of this report that provides insights into the current state of the industry.
It covers all the major protocols including Dante, Ravenna, AES67, AVB, Milan and others. Following the addition of video and control protocols in last year’s report, RHC have added IPMX and NDI and will further broaden the scope in the future.
The statistics show that the number of networked AV products on the market continues to grow, with the total number of products being shipped being charted at 5,219, from 552 different brands. This increase of over 1,000 from last year’s report seems to indicate that the industry is successfully re

Norway - Ayrton has announced the appointment of Rubicon AS as its new exclusive distributor for Norway. The new agreement takes effect from 15 March 2023.
“The date coincides with the start of the LLB trade show in Oslo which will be a perfect occasion for us to present Ayrton fixtures to the Norwegian market and mark the start of our new distributorship,” says Rubicon CEO and founder, Petter Norby.
Established in 1994, Rubicon began life as a rental company and quickly grew to include a sales division. “Like Caesar crossing the Rubicon, there was no turning back,” says Norby. In 2017 Rubicon decided to focus entirely on sales and is now among the most well-respected mid-sized companies in Norway. Rubicon will be responsible for the sales and installation of the full range of Ayrton fixtures.
“We have always focused on quality as our trademark, which

France/USA - L-Acoustics has announced that it has been named for the second time to Fast Company’s annual list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies.
This year’s list highlights the businesses at the forefront of their respective industries, paving the way for the innovations of tomorrow.
“Being recognised by Fast Company for the second time in three years as a top innovator is a great honour and a testimony to L-Acoustics’ heritage of innovation and passion for connecting artists to their audiences,” says L-Acoustics CEO Laurent Vaissié.
Notable innovations highlighted by Fast Company include the release of L-ISA Studio that facilitates access to spatial audio creation and listening, as well as Ambiance, L-Acoustics’ award-wining active acoustics solution that turns any studio acoustics into a real live concert environment.
Additionall

Denmark - Ayrton has announced the appointment of Vigsø Sales ApS as its new exclusive distributor for Denmark, with immediate effect.
VIGSØ is one of Denmark’s leading suppliers of technical equipment for the event, production, theatre and concert industry. Vigsø Sales is a part of Vigsø Rental which had grown into an important player in the dry-hire industry before opening a sales and distribution division in 2021. Since 2022, this has been run by Kenneth Jakobsen who brings many years of industry experience to his role. The company has already taken a significant stock of Ayrton Cobra, Eurus and Domino LT fixtures into its inventory.
“The advantage of having a dry-hire and sales company under the same roof is proving to be very effective for our customers, especially when delivery times are under pressure when it has proven helpful to have a rental division

UK - Peerless-AV has announced the dates for this year’s AV Showcase at Lord’s Cricket Ground. Back with earlier dates in the AV calendar – 16-17 May 2023
“Now in its third year, we’re pleased to announce our return to Lord’s and new May dates,” said Keith Dutch, managing director – EMEA, Peerless-AV. “Our event attracts professionals and decision-makers not only from the UK AV community but all across Europe; recognising the value of Peerless-AV’s strong partner relations and industry connections and ability to bring all the leading players from the audio, workplace technology, wireless, UC/VC, digital signage, interactive touch and signal management markets together, under one roof. This year we have over 30 leading brands, returning and new, to the exhibition floor and we will have some new features to reveal soon over the two-day schedule.”
N

USA - EAW has announced Techrep Marketing as its new representatives in the Ohio Valley region.
Techrep Marketing, founded by Ted Bahas and Jeff Mcpherson in 1998, has been serving the Ohio Valley for over 22 years. “We saw the opportunity and value of having a technically oriented sales force serving the AV marketplace,” says Bahas, president, Techrep. “We have always envisioned ourselves as solution specialists for the products we represent. Our goal is to act as a multiplier for our vendor’s sales and technical teams.”
Bahas expanded on this idea, building out a team of almost 20 professionals. Now working with commercial installs, live sound and music retail customers, Techrep represents various manufacturers such as EAW in Western Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia. The company also has reach in Michigan and Indiana for some of its clients.

Portugal - Auditiv - Audiovisuais Lda. has more than 25 years of experience in the audio rental market. Under the direction of João Escada and Daniel Bekerman, both experienced broadcast engineers, it maintains a strong position in both broadcast and live sound, suppling audio systems for major national and international productions. A long-standing DiGiCo user, the company has recently invested in a Quantum 338 console, ensuring it has the latest technology in its inventory.
“Working on national awards ceremonies such as the Golden Globes, well known musical TV shows including Got Talent, Ídolos and The Voice, and with bands such as Xutos & Pontapés are some of the highlights in our portfolio,” says Auditiv’s João Escada. Internationally, Auditiv has participated in spectacular events including the Eurovision Song Contest, the Summer and W

USA - LightenUp, a Los Angeles-based professional lighting company that supplies the full range of lighting equipment and power distribution for all types of events, has added a large complement of Ayrton Zonda 9 FX and Zonda 3 FX fixtures to its inventory. The new luminaires join Ayrton Khamsin, Perseo Profile, Diablo-S in white and black housings, and MagicDot fixtures available for projects and rental. ACT Entertainment is the exclusive distributor of Ayrton lighting in North America.
“We’re always looking at new equipment. We do our due diligence and have biweekly meetings with lighting designers about new gear and keeping our inventory up to date,” says lighting designer Nathan Megaw, president of LightenUp. “A lot of new equipment is always coming out, and there’s always the risk of, ‘Will you pick right? Will the gear be hot in the market? Can we cross-ren

Botswana - Having last year launched Headstock Group’s HH Electronics brand in South Africa, distributor ApexPro recently introduced the company’s range of audio products to professionals and end-users at an AV Expo in Botswana. Staged at the Town Lodge Convention Centre in Gaborone with partner SixDots, the well-attended showcase allowed visitors to experience close-up the quality and flexibility of HH products, giving insights into the wide range of applications they can address.
Demand in sub-Saharan Africa for robust, cost-competitive, high quality professional audio for live sound and installation is growing, with HH Electronics ideally placed to take advantage, according to its global sales director Ian Wright:
“In the relatively short time we’ve been working with ApexPro, they’ve demonstrated a very strong commitment to delivering the HH message to the

USA - The DALI Alliance has reached two new milestones that demonstrate broad global support for the organisation and its certification programmes. The number of certified DALI-2 products now exceeds 3,000 devices, and at the same time DALI Alliance’s membership has grown to 350 members.
The 3,000th DALI-2 product is the EUM-150S150ET LED driver from Inventronics. This product includes luminaire, energy and diagnostics data (Parts 251-3), which means that it can store luminaire information (typically encoded by the luminaire manufacturer) in one of the driver's DALI memory banks, and can report operational diagnostic and energy usage data.
DALI-2 certification requires the product to successfully pass a rigorous and comprehensive set of tests based on the international standard IEC 62386. The DALI Alliance independently verifies the test results, and then lists each

Ghana - Van Damme cables has announced that it has partnered with a new distributor in Ghana to supply its portfolio of products to a strong and varied customer base in West Africa.
Audiovisual Systems is a well-established professional sales and integration company that designs, supplies, installs and maintains professional audio visual equipment. Its approach is simple and innovative, with the business providing a variety of training programmes and maintenance to support every installation.
The new distribution relationship marks a significant step forward for Van Damme as it starts to ‘reach out to new geographies’.
Adam Jafrabadi, export director at VDC comments, “We are really excited about this new collaboration. Van Damme is recognised globally for its innovation and reliability and has a broad range of products to meet customers’ every need and

UK - In response to significantly different market conditions in the UK following Brexit, ADJ has announced the moving of distribution of the brand’s products to a new UK-based company. Audio Visual Security Limited – AVS – will be led by two familiar faces to ADJ customers in the region and provide vastly improved delivery times – next day in most cases – as well as local service, support, and repairs.
Kris Dawber and Andy Howarth are the directors of AVS. Kris has been a part of the ADJ family for 15 years, was instrumental in first bringing the brand to the UK and has previously served as UK & Ireland sales manager as well as European sales manager for ADJ Europe. He has an extensive knowledge of the UK and Irish markets as well as a vast network of industry contacts. Andy has worked with Kris within ADJ’s UK-based business for over 10 years and has an in

Germany – Event production company, gruppe20, has invested in a Unitour power supply system from Australian manufacturer LSC Control Systems, in order to provide maximum control over its power management capabilities.
The Augsburg-based company, which purchased the systems through LSC’s exclusive distributor for Germany, LMP Lichttechnik, will be using them to power audio, video and lighting systems across the German market, in all types of production, including events, touring, film and television.
LSC’s Unitour is their premium portable power solution for the broad range of equipment - LED walls, audio, moving lights and AV hardware - used in entertainment production. The 24 or 48-channel modular system can be fitted with power switching modules for audio and video, or with dual-mode TruPower dim/switch modules for lighting. As well as the module flexibility, e

USA - Renkus-Heinz has announced a newfound partnership with Mountain AV Marketing in the Rocky Mountain region.
Based in Phoenix, Arizona, Mountain AV Marketing is a manufacturers’ representative in the commercial AV and pro sound & lighting market channels. Owner and founder Chris Henley has over 30 years of experience as an end user, AV integrator and independent representative.
“I'm honoured to represent a leader like Renkus-Heinz throughout the region, and look forward to bringing dynamic, cutting-edge audio solutions to our dealers and consultants,” Henley said. “Always at the forefront of research and development, Renkus-Heinz brings the type of forward-thinking technology and solutions our customers are looking for along with the right team and end-user support to truly have an impact in this region.”
“We’re proud to partner with Mounta

UK - Unusual Rigging will join in the 2023 Olivier Awards with Mastercard at the Royal Albert Hall this year as an official sponsor of an award.
The event, which takes place on the 2 April and acknowledges the best of British theatre, will see Unusual sponsoring the Outstanding Achievement in Affiliate Theatre category. This award, introduced in 2004, recognises work produced at affiliate members of the Society of London Theatre, recognising excellence beyond the West End theatres eligible in the main theatre categories.
This is the first time that Unusual Rigging has been involved with the Olivier Awards in a sponsorship capacity. However, the event rigging has been supplied by the Unusual team in previous years.
Speaking ahead of the event, Tom Harper MD commented: “In an era of increased pressure on the UK theatre industry, Unusual recognises the importance

Eurovision Funding - The Eurovision Song Contest, being held in Liverpool in May, will get £10m from the UK government, it has been announced. It will be spent on operational costs like security and visas, as well as making sure the event "showcases Ukrainian culture". Local authorities in Liverpool have already pledged £4m in funding. About 3,000 tickets to the song contest will also be made available for Ukrainians living in the UK.
Liverpool is staging the event at its M&S Bank Arena on behalf of Ukraine. It will be the first Eurovision Song Contest to be held in the UK for 25 years. The government funding is intended to "support security, visa arrangements and other operational aspects of the contest", the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said.
The money will also support Liverpool City Council as well as host broadcaster the BBC's partnerships

UK - Following the successful formula first introduced at the recent ISE 2023 show in Barcelona - whereby non-attendees could share, remotely, the same product launch experience as those who made the trip to Barcelona, Martin Audio has laid out its stall for a similar online experience in advance of its biannual open days. These will take place at their High Wycombe HQ, the difference this time being that the visitor experience will take place within the company’s newly refurbished facility.
“The international launch of our new Torus 8 in Barcelona was very much an experiment in the way we presented new products to both the market and the media,” said director of marketing, James King. “Fortunately both the real-world attendance at our booth and our demo room, alongside the number of logins and catch-up replays to the two streamed events fully vindicated our decision

UK - Midwich and its specialist LED division, PSCo, have announced they have been appointed as LG’s authorised service and repair centre for LED products, delivered through its service department, MiSupport.
The enhanced partnership will see Midwich become the official service partner for in- and out-of-warranty repairs in the UK and Ireland, acting on behalf of LG Business Solutions.
PSCo, part of the Midwich Group, is already the official distributor and accredited technical and service delivery partner for LG LED across the UK & Ireland.
Michael Mclewee, UK & Ireland LED Sales Manager at LG, said, “We partnered with Midwich’s MiSupport because it has enabled us to widen our support coverage and will provide resellers with a clear process for LED product repairs.
“As our authorised service centre, channel partners will receive the best pos

Europe - Ayrton has announced the appointment of BT.innotec as its new, exclusive distributor for Germany with effect from 1 March 2023.
A new company, yet with 44 years of professional industry experience, BT.innotec was established in 2021 by Michael Timmer and Raphael Berndzen to focus on the distribution of carefully selected professional lighting, trussing and control technology for the entertainment lighting market.
The company will be responsible for the distribution and support of the entire range of Ayrton products.
“Ayrton is a well-recognised A-brand in our industry and we are honoured to be chosen as a partner in the worldwide Ayrton sales network,” says BT.innotec managing director, Michael Timmer. “It is a great opportunity and challenge at the same time, and we are convinced that, due to Ayrton’s technological leadership and stable product

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