The Christmas decorations for the Prezzemolo tree were specially developed by Coemar's Mauro Favalli, and the display consists of 400m of small Christmas lights, brought to life with four Antari snow machines (also distributed in Italy by Coemar). In the Ice Stadium, the ice rink is now lit with 16 Coemar iSpot 575s and several Panorama Cyc Power units - fitted with twin 575 MSD lamp sources - again brought to life with Antari smoke and snow machines.
All the lighting and special effects support the DMX protocol and interface with the SMPTE timecode to which the shows are run. The new Fantasy Kingdom - a cartoon-themed miniature village - is lit with Coemar's Theatre Line (650W Theatre Spots and 500W Theatre Wash) fitted with barn doors on dimmer control.
Over the years Coemar have fitted out all Gardaland's theatres for the park's show director, Gianfranco Bollini - from the TAS Colora colour changers in the Marionettes Theatre to the NAT 1200TM and 1200MMs in the Pala Laser - now suppplemented with Coemar ProWash 575s. Housing one of the most diverse shows you will ever see, including aerial artists, the Blue Theatre is another major auditorium benefiting from continuous lighting upgrade.
All this is allowed for in Gardaland's budgets. Gianfranco Bollini explained that a budget of $80,000 was allocated each year to upgrade their intelligent lighting with Coemar, and a further $10,000 is allocated to the Christmas lighting. "We have always had a very good relationship with Coemar, who provide us with an excellent service," he said.
(Lee Baldock)
