Taking place in the grounds of a medieval castle in the picturesque Dutch region of Limburg, the Castle of Love Festival has just performed for its 13th year. The castle which provided a unique backdrop has led to its reputation for being the ‘liveliest dance festival in Limburg’ for its 2018 instalment that included a dedicated Urban Stage with an impressive ADJ Lighting rig of 100 fixtures.
The festival was based on the site of Castle Erenstein in the town of Kerkrade, which is also the home of ADJ’s European headquarters, so it was fitting that ADJ lighting was used for the production of the event. ADJ fixtures are regularly used throughout the festival site and in 2018 Luuk Steins, the Lighting Designer for the Urban Stage opted for an all ADJ rig.
Located inside a huge marquee, the Urban Stage had a capacity of approximately 2000 people and with its industrial theme, featured an impressive custom-built stage set that was brought to life by 100 ADJ lighting fixtures complemented by 12 smoke and haze machines. In the centre of the marquee, a large truss goalpost was constructed and used to support 16 ADJ Inno Color Beam Quad7 LED-powered beam fixtures, which were used to shoot moving shafts of intense coloured lights down onto the crowd.
The star of the light show was the ADJ Vizi Hybrid 16RX. With its formidable Philips Platinum 16R MSD lamp and hybrid beam, spot and wash operation, it was used to generate a wide variety of impressive effects. Its expansive colour wheel and twin GOBO wheels provided lots of different projected patterns, while its two prisms allowed for the creation of complex mid-air beam effects. A total of sixteen of the fixtures were deployed across the set; some standing on the stage and others rigged at various different heights.
“The Vizi Hybrid 16RX was chosen for its multifunctionality, which meant that it was suitable for use with all kinds of music styles and therefore perfect for this eclectic stage,” explained Lighting Designer and Operator, Luuk Steins: “It is a super fixture with beautiful colours and GOBOS, and we were also surprised by its speed. All 16 of the units we used for this event performed above all expectations and they meant that the Urban Stage was a real competitor to the other stage builders. We attracted a lot of attention because of the huge output and the wide variety of effects the fixtures created.”
ADJ distinctive Illusion Dotz 4.4 moving head pixel matrix fixtures were also positioned around the central DJ booth to provide visual ‘eye candy’ effects. In support of the various moving head fixtures, the rig also featured 36 ADJ Flat Par TRI7XS low profile LED pars and 7 3-Watt RGB LEDs with a removable snoot which was used to up-light graffiti artwork at the sides of the stage.
To create a hazy atmosphere in the marquee 2 ADJ powerful Entourage faze machines were deployed. These units generated a massive amount of light enhanced fog from the standard water-based fluid that is spread out into a fine hazy effect.
When combined together, this large collection of fixtures created a creative and successful visual element to the shows that took place. It transformed the huge space with colour, movement, GOBO patterns and eye candy effects that provided an exciting backdrop for the stage’s diverse line-up of musical performances. All of which were well appreciated by the large crowd who packed out the marquee throughout the two-day festival and made the Urban Stage at Castle of Love 2018 an unequivocal success.