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29 August 2024

Romania - The Sibiu International Theatre Festival, which is put on by The National Theatre Radu Stanca Sibiu, has just celebrated its 31st year.

This year the June festival featured indoor and outdoor theatre, music and dance, as well as street acts, and drew more than 100,000 international visitors who enjoyed over 830 performances, involving 5,000 artists from 82 nations. Among those performers was American actor John Malkovich, César Award-winning French actress Isabelle Adjani, and Romanian theatre director Silviu Purcărete.

Adding to the magic of the 2024 edition of the festival, which was built around the theme of ‘friendship’, was a massive collection of over 250 Chauvet Professional fixtures supplied and installed by Andrei Popea and his team at Backstage Production Group.

The Backstage team deployed 106 of these fixtures, as w

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29 August 2024

Germany - Open Beatz is the largest open-air festival for electronic music in southern Germany and attracts tens of thousands of visitors to the 50-hectare site in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, every year.

Performers on the five creatively designed stages in 2024 included Afrojack, Nicky Romero, Felix Jaehn, Lilly Palmer, and many more. Eventures GmbH was responsible for the lighting, sound, and video equipment on the three largest stages. Tobias Reinartz (visualprime) was responsible for the lighting design, working with the new Cameo Oron H2 Hybrid Phosphor Laser Moving Heads for the first time.

The Oron H2, which Eventures sourced entirely from NicLen’s dry hire stock, was the central element of the lighting design this year. “The Oron H2 is the brightest and most powerful beam moving head I’ve seen to date,” says Reinartz. “It offers everyth

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29 August 2024

Germany - For more than 20 years, the Airbeat One festival has entertained fans with the harder side of electronic music with an event that features cutting-edge stage design, epic light shows and leading international DJs. 

Airbeat One 2024 was recently held at Flugplatz Neustadt-Glewe, where lighting designer Christopher Rostalski, CEO of CR Lichtdesign, used 130 Claypaky Tambora Linear 100 LED pixel-mapping bars designed for versatile lighting effects and artistic set decoration. 

The annual event is one of the largest EDM festivals in Germany, drawing some 100,000 visitors. Every year has a different country theme with France being highlighted in 2024, and the stage designs and presentation of the festival reflecting that choice: the main stage was a faithful replica of the Arc de Triomphe and the Louvre in Paris.

Rostalski selected 130

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28 August 2024

Europe - Neg Earth supremo Dave Ridgway came to the assistance of creative director and lighting designer Terry Cook when he was seeking the kind of raw power from a new-generation washlight that audiences at an AC/DC show might expect.

“It needed to be bright, versatile, bold and strong,” says the designer, one of three partners at Woodroffe Bassett Design (WBD). And so Ridgway recommended GLP’s impression X5 IP Maxx, promptly arranging a shoot-out. Terry Cook’s conclusion: “It brought meanness, real character and was unapologetically angry. It was definitely an AC/DC light,” he states. “We have history of embracing new technology on AC/DC tours and the Power Up tour was no different.”

At the same time, he noted a further advantage: the fixture’s IP rating. In fact, its waterproof qualities would prove vital during the tou

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28 August 2024

Singapore - The Star Theatre, the main venue at The Star Performing Arts Centre, has invested in a quantity of Ayrton Huracán Wash fixtures supplied by Ayrton’s exclusive distributor for the region, Total Solution Marketing.

The Huracán Wash units will become a fixed installation as part of the permanent lighting rig and mark the second investment in Ayrton for the venue.

The Star Theatre is a 5,000-seat capacity theatre that features a traditional horseshoe shape auditorium with plush seating that helps create an intimate ambience. It prides itself in using only high-end professional equipment in its broad programme of events and performances.

40 Huracán Wash fixtures were installed at the request of The Star Theatre's head of lighting, Mohamad Azhar Bin Mazlan, who explains why he chose them: “I specified these particular fixtures be

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28 August 2024

The Netherlands - Conservatorium Maastricht, an international conservatory, is one of nine music academies in the Netherlands. With goals to set its musicians in motion, the school enables its students to achieve their ambitions in various musical fields through theoretical and practical approaches to artistic development and performance, along with cross-departmental activities, elective courses and professional development.

At the end of each year, Conservatorium Maastricht holds a graduation showcase, where students present their final projects. This event allows graduates to demonstrate what they have learned and their capabilities as musicians, composers and/or producers. This year, the event was held at Muziekgieterij, a local concert hall that was tasked with handling the technical aspects, which included providing the best possible sound for the show

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28 August 2024

Brazil - Visual tech provider On Projeções selected Christie Griffyn 4K50-RGB pure laser projectors to play a starring role at two of São Paulo’s most prominent electronic and techno music events: Time Warp Brasil and Illusionize in Saturn.

Established in 1994, Time Warp Brasil is one of the world's largest techno and house festivals, with events in Mannheim, Madrid, New York, and São Paulo. The festival is renowned for its use of cutting-edge technology to complement the musical performances. For Time Warp Brasil’s 30th anniversary, the festival commissioned On Projeções and The Force agency to project onto the building opposite the event venue, enhancing the attendees' sense of immersion and transforming the event into a visually impactful and engaging experience.

To achieve this, On Projeções used two Christie Griffyn 4K50-RGB pure las

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28 August 2024

South Korea - Busan Film Commission (BFC) has joined forces with Basictech’s Media Solution Department to launch the VP stage, a dynamic facility designed for film, TV and commercial productions. At its core, the stage features a large, fine-pixel LED screen, driven by Brompton Technology's LED processing.

BFC is a pioneering organisation dedicated to supporting film production and has been instrumental in transforming Busan into a 'city of film'. Its VP stage measures 20.5m by 3.5m and is equipped with an AOTO RM series 2.31mm pixel pitch curved LED wall, powered by three 4K Tessera SX40 LED processors and six Tessera 10G data distribution units. The setup also includes an MRMC Bolt high-speed cinema robot and Disguise vx4 and rxII media servers, among other high-quality equipment.

Brompton LED processing ensures that the VR stage delivers colour

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27 August 2024

France - Creative design practice Concept K employed 100 Elation SŌL I blinders at the Solidays Festival in Paris at the end of June, one of the first uses in Europe of the creative blinder and effect light. Lighting supply was by Dushow, a festival provider for many years, with lighting design by Frédéric ‘Aldo’ Fayard of Concept K.

Solidays is an annual music festival held at the Longchamp Racecourse in Paris. Organised by Solidarité sida, it brings together more than 150 artists and 170,000 festival-goers for three days with proceeds going to organisations fighting HIV/AIDS.

Aldo, founder and artistic director of Concept K, used the SŌL I blinders to artfully adorn the festival’s main stage, commenting: “Lighting designers have been looking for a source capable of replacing the FL650 and the SŌL I from Elation is the answer to this r

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27 August 2024

USA - To expand research opportunities and community resources, the Alachua County Board of County Commissioners partnered with the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) to develop the Alachua County Agriculture and Equestrian Centre.

The centre was created to provide a comprehensive venue for livestock shows, agricultural fairs, equestrian events, and various community activities. To power outdoor speakers across the venue, the centre turned to the award-winning Connect Series amplifiers from LEA Professional.

The 37-acre site’s development involved the construction of new pole-barn structures, refurbishment of a 250ft x 150ft indoor equestrian arena, and construction of a new outdoor arena. These arenas included new lighting, PA systems, bleachers, and other infrastructure elements. When it came time to i

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27 August 2024

USA - Electricity was in the air (quite literally) on 11 July, as fans made their way to Ruoff Music Centre in Noblesville to attend the second show in the I Prevail-Halestorm co-headline 24-city summer tour. The display of light overhead matched the mood. All this was the result of a violent storm blowing across the Midwest that delayed the start of the show by 90 minutes.

When fans finally made their way into the 24,000-capacity amphitheatre, just north of Indianapolis, the vibe was just as kinetic, and the lightshow on stage gave Mother Nature’s lightning a run for its money. A dynamic design by Chris Denholm featured 40 Chauvet Professional Color Strike M motorised strobe-washes from PGP.

Denholm worked on his design with Mathes Kuhn who designed the Halestorm floor package and co-programmed their show with Rodger Pugh, Anthony Tran who did mos

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23 August 2024

Germany -This summer, the Großer Sendesaal of Hessischer Rundfunk witnessed a special performance. In the Lorenz Foundation’s inclusive dance project Babylon: Miteinander Reden ist Gold, 150 people - professionals and amateurs, people with and without disabilities - took to the stage and demonstrated what can happen when people come together without boundaries: participation for all, enjoyment of art and a strong sense of community.

Working closely together, all those involved created an extraordinary live experience with powerful images and stirring music - supported by the technical team from eCon GmbH and a sound and lighting setup from LD Systems and Cameo.

Babylon: Miteinander Reden ist Gold (talking to one another is golden) tells an old biblical story, adapted to the challenges of modern times: a lack of understan

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22 August 2024

Germany - Nature One is an established festival for techno, house, trance, hardstyle and all other varieties of electronic dance music. In 2024, tens of thousands of EDM fans again flocked to the Pydna Kastellaun missile base to party for three days with the scene’s best DJs.

Much of the special atmosphere at Nature One is thanks to its main stage. Here, visitors don’t just dance in front of the stage, but in the middle of an elaborate truss construction with numerous light and video elements. Marek Papke from Gerdon Design has been responsible for the stage, lighting and content design for the main stage for many years and once again relied on the IP65 lights from Cameo this year.

“I’m always amazed at how easily the Otos H5 survives an outdoor techno festival lasting several days,” says Marek Papke, impressed by the IP65 beam-spot-wash hy

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22 August 2024

USA - After more than 40 sold-out headlining shows in 2023, country music superstar Jason Aldean extended his Highway Desperado Tour with a lighting system from long-time vendor, Bandit Lites.

For the tour, named after Aldean’s 11th studio album, lighting designer Matthieu Larivée of Luz Studio wanted to avoid LED and instead focus on warm looks. “The start of the design was the band layout and riser fascia,” he said. “I like to get bright fascias for the focus of the band and the background of the pictures for socials.”

Larivée sought fixtures that would be able to provide colour washes as well as dynamic effects (noting the high-octane nature of Aldean’s concerts).

Bandit Lites supplied more than 250 fixtures including Ayrton Khamsin-S, Chauvet Maverick Storm 2 BeamWashes, Chauvet Color Strike M, Elation CuePix WW2, E

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21 August 2024

USA - Not to be confused with Area 51, Area15 is an immersive entertainment district just moments from the Las Vegas Strip. Already equipped with an X1 system, it includes the Illuminarium experience located in the Area15 District.

Now following suit in upgrading their audio experience with a Holoplot X1 Matrix Array sound system is The Portal, a multi-use venue and key element of Area15’s experiential entertainment. It offers experiences for the whole family, including rides and VR, live performances, DJs, food, and definitely no top-secret US Government experiments . . .

“Our motto is ‘Area15 does not exist’ because you can make your own story,” says Mark Stutzman, CTO at Area15. “It can be anything you want it to be.”

The Portal is Area15’s landmark venue. It can be used for private dining, all-night DJ sets, and everything

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21 August 2024

Mexico - Each year, the Mexican Telephone Workers Union (STRM) holds a festival for its members at the Plaza de Toros in Mexico City, the world’s largest bullring with a capacity of more than 40,000 seats.

This year’s event took place on 1 August and featured performances from popular Mexican singers Carlos Rivera and María José, and Colombian music groups Piso 21 and La Sonora Dinamita.

As usual, sound for the event was provided by local production services company Tecno Son, who deployed their Nexo STM system to cover an audience that rose quickly from the floor of the venue to the highest tier and wrapped right around the edges of the stage from left to right.

Left and right FOH hangs of 15 x STM M46 Main and B112 Bass Extension line array elements with three M28 down-fill boxes were supplemented by side-arrays of nine M46/B112 plus

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21 August 2024

Italy - Max Pezzali's first real stadium tour in over 30 years of his career, Max Forever, sold out across all venues, drawing fans of all ages eager to sing along.

The 10-date tour was a nostalgic journey through time, uniting different generations with the trends of the 1990s. The former 883 frontman performed over 30 songs, including timeless hits, rarities and his new single, released a few months ago after a four-year hiatus.

All the visual elements created a nostalgic, celebratory atmosphere, highlighting the milestones of Pezzali's career.

Jordan Babev from Blearred Milano, the studio which dealt with the show's lighting design, shared his insights:

“For us, it was a great opportunity, which we seized immediately. We have always had great confidence in Claypaky lights, and they did not disappoint this time either, on

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21 August 2024

The Netherlands - Patronaat is a live music venue in Haarlem, just outside capital city Amsterdam, and one of the music hotspots of the northern Netherlands, with two busy live performance halls and a small stage/club operating over weekend nights. Music fans can enjoy a lively mix of rock and pop shows, plus club nights as well as more diverse music-based festival events.

The venue has featured a Robe moving light rig in-house since 2012, which has been very successful and also upgraded in recent years to include some of the newest Robe technologies. The most recent addition to the inventory is 36 x TetraX 360-degree rotating LED battens to the inventory, which are primarily being used in the 950-capacity main hall.

Head of lighting Robin van der Plas explained how they were initially looking at LEDBeam 350s, but then saw the TetraXs and thought the

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20 August 2024

Portugal - Rock in Rio Lisbon 2024 marked the festival's first edition at the newly inaugurated Parque Tejo. The two-weekend extravaganza, held on 15-16 June and 22-23 June, featured Ed Sheeran, Scorpions, Evanescence, Europe, Calum Scott, and Jonas Brothers.

With the opening of Parque Tejo, which debuted during the World Youth Day in 2023, the festival needed a lighting design that could match the venue's state-of-the-art infrastructure. Enter Woodroffe Bassett Design. WBD is no stranger to Rock in Rio, having been involved as the main lighting designers since the festival's inception.

The design team included Terry Cook, John Coman, and Aiden Bromley of WBD. The lighting team in Portugal consisted of Pixel Light as their main suppliers, with Ramiro Martins, a renowned Portuguese lighting designer, acting as the bridge between WBD, Pixel Light, and

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20 August 2024

Fiji - Christian Mission Fellowship International (CMFI) is a rapidly growing church headquartered in Suva, Fiji. Established in 1990, its 30,000 members and missionaries serve in 120 countries across 5,000 churches worldwide.

CMFI is headquartered in Suva at the World Harvest Centre (WHC), where an impressive, round church building hosts over 3,500 worshippers, a full band, production, and a 100-member choir.

Since its construction in 1990, the centre has installed numerous sound systems; however, none have been able to overcome the challenges of the large reverberant space and the sound quality requirements of the growing church.

Enter head pastor Suliasi Kurulo, who finally decided the time had arrived to call in the professionals and deliver the dream to its members. After many proposals and CAD models, Suliasi, his production crew and th

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20 August 2024

Malta - The Mediterrane Film Festival, hosted for the second consecutive year in Malta from 22-30 June, culminated with the Golden Bee Award Ceremony hosted by David Walliams at the Fort Manoel, Gżira.

Over a dozen awards were presented to international actors, directors and cinematographers across a variety of categories. The awards were interspersed with performances from artists including Mercury Prize winner, Heather Small, Britain’s Got Talent singer Calum Scott, Maltese opera singer Joseph Calleja and the Golden Bee Awards Orchestra.

BAFTA-winning writer-director Mike Leigh was awarded the career achievement award, and Maltese production coordinator Rita Galea was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award. The evening was rounded off with a speech from the President of Malta, Myriam Spiteri Debono, who emphasised the importance of

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20 August 2024

Spain - In the final four shows of superstar Karol G’s 62-date Mañana Será Bonito Tour, it was the “details” - even the most painstaking ones - that gave rise to some looks that enthralled the sold-out crowds at Madrid’s Santiago Bernabéu Stadium.

Working with a production design by Travis Shirley, lighting designer Ignacio ‘Iggy’ Rosenberg of Lightswitch artfully pixel mapped every cell of 310 Chauvet Professional Color Strike M fixtures to add an extra level of depth and continuity to the massive set.

“We did a ton of pixel mapping,” said Rosenberg. “Every cell was really used individually to get as much flexibility throughout the show. Given the overall arc of the design, we constrained the palettes we used for the first two sections of the show, so we needed all the tools we could have to create different looks.”

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20 August 2024

UK - Oxford’s Bodleian Libraries chose a custom LED video wall from Leyard Europe as the main display in the public area, or loggia, of the Weston Library, home to the library service’s special collections.

The Leyard Europe TVF LED video wall was delivered to replace an existing LCD video wall installed pre-pandemic during a major building-wide AV refresh, designed by AV consultants Hewshott and installed by Reflex Ltd, part of Aura. Leyard Europe was selected through an early process, consisting of comparison between five different LED brands.

As AV consultant Daniel Brooks explains, it “best met the client requirements, providing both quality and value and, thanks to Leyard’s European manufacturing facility, faster delivery than competitors. This benefitted the project timeline and reduced the environmental impact of international shipping

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20 August 2024

Fake News - Donald Trump appears to have falsely implied he has Taylor Swift's endorsement, posting fake images on social media of the singer and her fans supporting him. The Republican presidential candidate posted the message "I accept!" alongside the images, which were taken from other social media accounts. Many appear to have been created using artificial intelligence. The post sparked a backlash among Swift's fans who accused Trump of spreading misinformation. The singer has not endorsed a candidate in the 2024 election but backed the Democrats in 2020 and criticised Trump while he was president.

Giving Back - An East Sussex music festival is helping people through the cost-of-living crisis by launching a 'pay what you can afford' scheme. Boundary Brighton said the scheme comes "as a ‘thank you’ for seven years of support and in re