France - Hugh Masekela (South Africa), Manu Dibango (Camerun), Roberto Fonseca (Cuba), Sly & Robbie (Jamaica) were among the international acts appearing at Fiest'a Sète 2012.

The 16th edition of the festival featured seven evenings of music in the fascinating setting of the Théâtre de la Mer, an amphitheatre with a breathtaking panorama of the Mediterranean right behind the stage.

Fiest'a Sète stage was lit with the new Jack and NRG 1201 high-power compact moving heads by D.T.S., provided by ESL. Lighting designer was Sebastien Serra.

(Jim Evans)

On The Fringe - Ticket sales for the Edinburgh Fringe are down by about 1%. It is thought the London Olympics - which clashed with the first nine days of the Fringe - was a major factor in the fall in sales. The Fringe remains the world's largest arts festival, with 2,695 shows performed in 279 venues.

Kath Mainland, chief executive of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, said it was "in fantastic health", with more than 1.8 million tickets sold. She said there were also more than 800 free shows at which attendance could not be measured. However, it is only the second time in more than a decade that ticket sales have fallen from the previous year. Sales fell in 2008 due to the disastrous implementation of a new ticketing system. Mainland said, "The Fringe has shown its resilience in responding so positively to the unique challenges of 2012."

Viva La Vi

UK - The Olympic Games in London may have come to an end, but the London 2012 Festival - also known as the Cultural Olympiad - continues to draw in crowds from across the UK. As part of that, the puppeteers responsible for War Horse created a stunning show at the Borough Halls in the south London Olympic borough of Greenwich - with production management by Illuminate Design.

Crow is based on a series of poems by the late poet laureate Ted Hughes, with the Handspring Puppet Company accompanying the telling of their stories through the medium of puppetry. Says Illuminate Design's co founder Ben Payne, "Handspring did such an amazing job on War Horse, that we all knew we had a lot to live up to. The poems can be quite dark, and so we wanted something suitably intimate."

Illuminate began by reversing the Borough Halls' traditional layout, with bleach

UK - Philips Entertainment Group brand Selecon is launching a new range of professional LED luminaires at PLASA 2012, Earls Court (9-12th September). Selecon will join Philips Entertainment brands Vari-Lite, Strand Lighting and new range - Showline - in Hall 1, stand BV 1-F50 to showcase some of the latest developments in lighting and control technology.

Debuting at this year's show will be the Selecon PLFRESNEL-1 and the PLPROFILE-1. Both fixtures are designed to complement Philips Entertainment's existing range of LED luminaires - the Selecon PL3, PL1, PLCYC1 and the Vari-Lite VLX ranges. "Together, this comprehensive range of lighting tools will offer a higher level of creative expression to designers working in the theatre, small studio and display lighting sectors," says the company.

General manager for Selecon, Graham Eales comments: "The PLFRESNEL-1, whic

UK - ETC's stand at PLASA 2012 is set to be better than ever before, with a range of new and updated products on demonstration

For the first time in the UK, the Layers of Light theatre space will offer a short presentation every hour.

ETC market manager Erik Larsen says, "We'll set up a series of coloured fabrics to show how colours can balance, 'pop' or appear dull by adjusting each of the different colours in an LED fixture. We'll then show how each of the company's different ranges of fixtures can work well either together or separately. ETC staff will demonstrate how LED can be mixed with conventional incandescent light sources, and how that works with a Sensor3 Power Control system.

"While we recognise that no single fixture is perfect for every kind of use, ETC's goal is to provide designers with tools that stand out on their own but also enhance the a

USA - Israeli dupstep producer DJ Borgore recently debuted his 2012 tour at the Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas, mixing rhythms from inside a custom-made ice cream truck built of Chauvet Professional MVP 18 video panels. The Borgore Cream Machine made its big entrance at EDC entertaining enthusiastic crowds, and will go on tour again in the fall in cities throughout the U.S. The event was spiced up by pole dancers on picnic tables and big custom-made ice cream cones placed on stage that shot cream at the audience.

A concept of VJ Morgan Lavery, owner of Infinight Productions, the idea of the Borgore Cream Machine is to make Borgore look like he is driving inside an ice cream truck, equipped with real 30-inch rims that move and spun around on motors.

Forty-seven MVP 18 panels cover the main façade of the truck and 18 make up the rear screen behind the DJ booth, while two

USA - Bring Elvis to life - That was the main video projection mission for Pete's Big TVs for the Elvis 35th anniversary concert, 16 August at the FedEx Forum in Memphis. The event was a fan favourite at the end of Elvis Week, a weeklong celebration of The King and on the 35th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death in 1977.

Pete's Big TVs has worked on many past Elvis in concert tours and anniversary shows - again with producer Stig Edgren Productions.

This year, Pete's Big TVs supplied 324 panels of the new digiLED MC7 high resolution video tiles to comprise all video screens in the show. The MC7 emit no radio frequency interference, making them a popular rental item in Pete's Big TVs' inventory.

The panels were split up into four screens. A screen over the stage displayed the show's EP 35 logo and IMAG. Of the three screens on the upstage, measuring 18ft tall,

USA - Over 250 Chauvet Professional LED fixtures are part of the stage design for the 60-minute worship services held at North Point Community Church, one of five churches in the Atlanta area that make up the North Point Ministries. Arrays of ÉPIX Strip linear pixel mapping fixtures - 112 to be exact - anchor the stage's backdrop. Placed in vertical lines from stage floor to the trim height of 16ft, they resemble raindrops falling from above animated by motion graphics generated by ArKaos MediaMaster Pro.

Positioned at the top, smoothing out the colour, are 14 COLORado Batten 72 Tour linear wash lights while 44 COLORado 1-Tri Tour and 19 COLORado 1 Tour static wash lights light up the wider set pieces found between the ÉPIX Strip fixtures. For dramatic flair, studding the ÉPIX array, are simple incandescent work lights clipped into place. As side lighting fo

Germany - Robe moving lights helped create the dynamics for the two stages in the Bullhead Circus tented arena at the 2012 Wacken Open Air (W:O:A) Festival in Germany.

Among the biggest, best known and most popular metal fests in the world, over 80,000 rockers gathered over three days to enjoy a wide selection of metal genre artists which included headliners The Scorpions, Machine Head, Sepultura and many others.

Lighting for the double-staged Bullhead Arena was supplied by Crystal Sound based in Karlsruhe.

An impressive cityscape set was designed by Thomas Bartz from Konzeptsache Berlin.

The two stages were positioned side-by-side with a mesh-clad Layher scaffolding structure in the middle, complete with a boxing ring coming out into the audience. Artists used this to tease the crowd and strut their stuff.

The stages were operated in 'flip-flop' style to ensure that the

UK - Lighting and visuals rental and solutions provider HSL continued a massively busy touring season supplying lighting, LED screen, rigging and a Kinesys automation system to Production North for street dance troupe sensation, Diversity's first major arena tour.

HSL has worked with Production North on many different projects. Once again, Mike Oates project managed for the Blackburn based company, with set, visuals and lighting designed by Peter Barnes, working in close conjunction with Diversity's creative director and leader, Ashley Banjo.

On the road, lighting was looked after and operated by Neil Trenell. An HSL crew of six took care of lighting and video and the Kinesys system, together with rigger John Ashton, who put in the 58 points each day.

Sarah Hollis, production manager for Production North, remarked that it was "Excellent" to deal with one company an

UK - Show sponsor Martin Professional is celebrating its 25th Anniversary at PLASA 2012 and will be holding a number of celebratory and VIP events at stand 1-F44 including prize draws for the chance to win Martin products.

"We look forward to celebrating with all our friends in the lighting industry and invite everyone to our stand for a chat and a celebratory drink and not least the chance to get an up-close look at the new MAC Viper series and other innovations as well," says Martin UK sales director Mike Walker.

"The feedback we've received on the Viper series has been unprecedented as our pre-sales numbers attest to. It is truly a ground-breaking moving head and contains all of our accumulated knowledge over the past 25 years. It is nothing short of spectacular and we are confident that lighting designers will feel the same."

Martin will be showing a

UK - Following its successful launch of Green-GO Ethernet-based intercom and cuelight system at PLASA and LDI last year - where the system won new product awards at both shows - ELC Lighting will be showing an expanded range of Green-GO products at this year's PLASA.

Since its initial showing at PLASA 2011, the Green-GO Communications digital intercom system over Ethernet has been adopted throughout the world, with a growing population of national distributors taking on the brand. This fully-featured digital intercom system has all the performance of a matrix-style network, but without the complexity, hardware or cost of a central matrix 'exchange'. Each outstation mirrors a copy of the system's complete routing and setup parameters, which eliminates the need for a matrix and has the added benefit of providing backup and automatic patching if new outstations are added or exchang

UK - Philips Entertainment Group brand Selecon is launching a new range of professional LED luminaires at PLASA 2012. Selecon will join Philips Entertainment brands Vari-Lite, Strand Lighting and new range - Showline - in Hall 1, stand BV 1-F50 to show off the latest developments in lighting and control technology.

Debuting at this year's show will be the Selecon PLFRESNEL-1 and the PLPROFILE-1.

Both fixtures are designed to complement Philips Entertainment's existing range of LED luminaires - the Selecon PL3, PL1, PLCYC1 and the Vari-Lite VLX ranges. Together, this comprehensive range of lighting tools will offer a higher level of creative expression to designers working in the theatre, small studio and display lighting sectors, says the company.

"The PLFRESNEL-1, which uses LED source technology combined with a traditional Fresnel lens, produces an adjustable cone of

UK - One of the first LDs in the world to get his hands on Martin Professional's new MAC Viper Profile moving head is UK lighting designer Matt Mawdsley who recently used the powerful 1000 W fixture on the Red Bull Badminton Super Final at Central Hall Westminster in London on 6 August.

Hailing the Viper Profile as the fixture he has been waiting for, Mawdsley covered the venue's dome ceiling and stage in images and patterns. Lighting rental company Stage Electrics supplied the Vipers and other lighting for the event.

"The MAC Viper Profile is really bright and produces perfect colours with really sharp image quality," he says. "I had many people ask what the lights were because of the gobo sharpness and brightness. I've never had that happen before."

Badminton England and Red Bull China hosted the special event, which showcased some of the best amateur b

UK - A.C. Special Projects (ACSP) has supplied a quantity of customised Anolis ArcPad Xtreme LED fixtures and Pharos architectural control, to illuminate the roof structure of the new Western Concourse at London's King's Cross railway station.

Part of a five-year programme to restore and improve the station, the Western Concourse delivers the biggest transformation in the 160-year history of the Grade-I listed station to date, marking the completion of yet another element of Network Rail's plans for the future of rail travel in the UK.

The stunning new roof structure has been cleverly blended with the station's heritage to create a space for passengers that is three times larger than the 1970's concourse, with improved transport links.

More than 47m passengers a year travelling through the Kings Cross interchange will benefit from a raft of improvements, including the new li

Australia - A state-of-the-art black box theatre, complete with retractable seats, motorised truss systems, operable walls, an impressive digital sound and lighting system, recording studio, dressing rooms, and box office are just a few of the features of Redcliffe State High School's new 260 seat blackbox theatre - The Bird's Nest.

The Queensland School will now be able to engage their students through the performing arts as well as through vocational education with students able to complete a Certificate II in live production theatre and events, as well as technical operations, and a Certificate II in set production and prop making.

As a blackbox theatre, The Bird's Nest has the flexibility to host any kind of performance, ranging from traditional theatre set up, theatre in the round, or they can run conferences.

The lighting installation was installed by Macrosphere. The

UK - Avolites Ltd has appointed Koy Neminathan as Sales Director and JB Toby as Technical Director, effective immediately.

Since joining Avolites Ltd in February 2000 Neminathan has become an indispensable member of the core sales team and has been instrumental in energizing the company's longstanding sales success.

Neminathan, whose experience at Avolites encompasses the job of Business Development Manager from 2006 and then as Sales Manager from 2009, succeeds Steve Warren who will remain as an active Director of Avolites Ltd while also acting as Managing Director of fast-growing Avolites Media Ltd - a position he took on in September 2011.

As Sales Director of Avolites, Neminathan will continue to oversee and expand the vast International distribution network and also manage the UK sales team.

JB Toby has an equally strong and proven track record at Avolites Ltd having

USA - Over 100 Iluminarc exterior lighting solutions permanently light five landmark bridges over downtown Tampa's Hillsborough River. The project entitled Agua Luces or Water Lights is part of the Lights On Tampa arts initiative, a joint public and private partnership between the City of Tampa's Arts Division and Friends of Tampa Public Art. The completion of Agua Luces coincides with the Republican National Convention, which the city is hosting 28-30 August 28 -2012.

A few years in the making, the Agua Luces project complements The Tampa Riverwalk expansion with a paved walkway on the eastern side of the river that highlights specific vistas of the city, river and newly lit bridges. Designing the lighting aspect of Agua Luces is Tracey Dear of Chicago-based Dear Productions. Dear, known for illuminating Chicago's bridges, specified the outdoor-rated, LED-fitted I

UK - PLASA 2012 will see lighting solutions provider, Architainment Lighting Ltd, present its largest and broadest range of LED lighting technology to date.

On display at Architainment PLASA stand (1-E47) will be a selection of Philips Color Kinetics and Philips Entertainment Group LED technology - some brand new, some old favourites, and others that bridge the gap between the entertainment and architectural lighting markets.

Among the new fittings on show at Architainment Lighting's stand is Philips Color Kinetics ArchiPoint. iColor Powercore will also make its debut at PLASA. A versatile exterior LED, ArchiPoint has a high intensity output even visible in daylight, and is suited for direct-view applications within both entertainment and architectural installations. It can display large-scale video, graphics, and intricately designed effects, all of which can be managed by ei

UK - ProPlex Devices are high-performance, tour-grade systems for data distribution over fibre/copper. Exclusively distributed by TMB, these signal management systems are built for the road, and suitable for all entertainment production and staging applications. The ProPlex Devices range includes: GBS gigabit Ethernet switches; IQ bidirectional Ethernet-DMX converters; Opto-Splitter isolated DMX/RDM splitters; and RMT remote media transceivers (coming soon).

ProPlex Devices Blue Box enclosures are available RackMount and PortableMount formats of various sizes - designed for desktop use or truss-mounting with optional yoke. RackMount kits are also available for some PortableMount units. Shock-mounted circuitry is designed to perform in extreme temperatures and conditions. Neutrik XLR, fibre and power connectors are featured, plus easily replaceable DVI connectors on the RMT units

UK - It's been 30 years since the first ever Vari-Lite luminaires hit the world's stages. This year, PLASA 2012 (Earls Court, 9-12 September) will see the Philips Entertainment brand Vari-Lite mark three decades of moving light development.

"Live entertainment has changed dramatically since Showco (the company set up by Rusty Brutsché and Jack Maxson in 1970 and which subsequently became Vari-Lite) pioneered the first moving and colour changing fixtures," explains vice president of worldwide sales & marketing for Philips Vari-Lite, Bob Schacherl. "It's hard to imagine that before Vari-Lite, concerts typically demanded up to 3,000 fixtures, each of which had to be manually focused and coloured."

It all began back in the 70s when Showco engineers looked to develop an integral colour changer for a lighting fixture. This resulted in the use of internal d

UK - Manchester-based lighting and visuals rental company dbn has continued its work with ground-breaking theatre and arts companies with the supply of lighting equipment and design for the acclaimed recent production of Cycle Song in the grounds of Brumby Hall, Scunthorpe.

The new large-scale community opera was a collaboration between Huddersfield based theatre company Proper Job and Scunthorpe Cooperative Junior Choir.

Directed by Jamie Beale, it told the emotional and compelling story of Albert 'Lal' White, Scunthorpe steelworker and winner of countless cycling trophies including an Olympic Silver medal in Antwerp in 1920.

dbn's Pete Robinson was asked to create a lighting scheme for the show which took place over two nights to completely sold out audiences. It featured a stark atmospheric distressed industrial set designed by Rhys Jarman, a cast of hundreds and t

UK - In one of the biggest comebacks of recent times, the Stone Roses chose to work with lighting designer Paul Normandale to design a light and video show to complement their highly anticipated reunion tour this summer.

Amongst other fixtures sharing the stage with the Mancunian band were Clay Paky Sharpys, with the entire show being controlled by the grandMA2 full-size.

"The Stone Roses are a band that focuses on the impact of the music, rather than big production going on around them, and so our challenge was to create a light show that doesn't overwhelm the music but allows the audience, and the band to 'feel' the lighting design connecting to the music," noted grandMA2 programmer Glen Johnson of Lite Alternative.

"We would describe the Stone Roses show as a 'busk show' - it isn't completely pre-programmed. Using the grandMA2 allowed Paul [Normandale] to r

UK - Devon- based drapes, starcloth, LED and visual effects specialists S+H Technical Support has supplied 8000sq.m of its ShowLED Animation curtain to the new series of Sky's popular dating games show, Love Machine, currently being recorded at Pinewood Studios.

The Animation curtain was specified by set designer Patrick Doherty, for whom S+H have supplied many other projects, including the inaugural series of Love Machine last year.

It is being used to wrap around the entire back of the set and create spectacular patterns, texturing and other ambient effects - for which is it a highly cost effective solution.

S + H is also supplying a substantial quantity of its ShowLED Chameleon RGB Starcloth to the series, which is being utilised to mask around the back of the live audience.

The package is completed with a selection of black drapes.

In combination, all t

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