Held between 19 to 21 August 2022 at Evenemententerrein Walibi Holland in Biddinghuizen, Lowlands Festival is the largest and most prestigious multi-day festival in The Netherlands. Themed as “A Campingflight to Lowlands Paradise”, the festival is spread out over a natural area which includes its famous campsite and a variety of stages offering a wide variety of bands, DJs, speakers and theatre. Headliners for 2022 included the Arctic Monkeys, Stromae, Sam Fender, Amelie Lens and Tash Sultana, and attracted over 65,000 visitors.
The festival’s technical supplier, Ampco Flashlight Rental, catered for the audio and lighting for all stages with Ayrton taking a prominent place on each stage. “Every type of Ayrton fixture was present from Mistral to Huracán,” said Ampco Flashlight Rental Account Manager, Mathijs de Vries.
Of the main stages and venues, the Alpha stage was equipped with 45 Huracán Profile and 11 Ghibli fixtures, the Bravo stage with 27 Ghibli, and the Heineken stage with 20 Diablo S and 6 Ghibli units. The India stage sported eight Huracán Profile, the Lima stage 15 Mistral and the Prima stage another 15 Diablo S. Diablo S also featured on the Hacienda and Rode Muur stages with 22 and 40 units respectively.
Each stage had their own very different programming, from rock to techno, from lounge to spoken word, and the Ayrton equipment was ideally suited to each one. Ampco Flashlight Rental Project Manager, Maico van Rijnsoever, explains the numbers: “Since all stages had a multi-artist lineup, there was no single LD. Instead our production department added up all the wishes of the performing artists to come up with a single set that could handle the majority of performances, while we also provided some specific add-ons for some artists.”
Ayrton and Ampco Flashlight have a rich combined history in high-profile productions, including the Eurovision Song Contest in 2018 (Lisbon) and 2021 (Rotterdam). Since then, many lighting professionals in the Netherlands and beyond have found their way to the Ayrton products, resulting in a healthy demand from customers in theatre, broadcast, live shows, festivals and corporate events.
“Our standards of professional lighting products are high,” said Marc Lubberts, Sales Manager for Ampco Flashlight Rental. “Not just in terms of quality and output, but equally in reliability throughout a three-day, 24/7 festival, a live broadcast or a long-term theatre tour, as well as in product support, availability of spares and worldwide acceptance. On all accounts we can conclude that Ayrton is a valuable part of our lighting stock, providing solutions for our wide range of clients”.
Ayrton CEO, Chris Ferrante concluded: “It is brilliant to see such a wide range of Ayrton products used across all the sites of a single festival and at Lowlands no less. This really highlights that the approach we have taken – providing fixtures which fit different applications – is the correct one. And a big thank you to Ampco Flashlight for understanding this concept and using it to such excellent effect!”