Bratislava’s new year celebrations, held in the heart of the Slovakian capital at the Rázusovo nábrežie (the banks of the River Danube) were brought to life by a spectacular lightshow masterminded by Kvant Show Production.
The laser specialists, who are also PR Lighting’s distributor for Germany, Czech Republic and Slovakia, have been the event lighting contractors since the concept was introduced three years ago, and in addition to their own lasers, 24 pieces of PR Lighting’s AQUA 580 Beam helped provide a spectacular show as the city counted down to 2020.
Organised by Biela Noc (White Night), the artistic department of the Slovakia and Bratislava municipality, a crew of around 25 people were responsible for creating the infrastructure, including Layher structures, lighting, sound and lasers, and all programming.
This year’s event was based on an original design from Brano Bernar of Showmedia, with lighting and laser choreography and programming this year undertaken by Kvant’s Martin Gabco. The main timecode show lasted seven minutes and was designed as the countdown show for the midnight new year celebration.
The PR Lighting AQUA 580 Beam is an IP66-rated moving head, producing a powerful output from a 550W engine, housing PR’s patent optics and a tight 2° beam angle. Stated Kvant CEO Michal Simkovic: “The main benefit of these fixtures is their IP rating; since they are waterproof there is no need for rain covers. In addition, the power of the beam is impressive, as is the price, while the prism is both visible and sharp.”
These lights formed an essential part of the timecode show, in combination with the lasers. “Where once lighting provided the background and lasers took centre stage, now it is the reverse, with lights taking the dominant role and boosting the impact of the source music,” Simkovic continued.
Eight Spectrum 30W lasers and four ClubMax 10W were used in combination with programable LED tubes. Everything was suspended on a Layher truss system which was 28m wide and 7m high. Pre-programming took three days in Visualiser with two days of fine tuning on site. Lighting was controlled from a grandMA2, while LED tubes, Madrix and lasers were under the control of Pangolin Beyond, which was also the source of timecode for the entire show.
Summing up the success of the event, White Night’s Karolina Doktorikova, said: “The lighting installation on the banks of the Danube communicated brilliantly with the surrounding architecture and visitors. The digital signage, with the countdown timer, went very well with LED tubes, lasers and lights which looked impressive, majestic and elegant, in connection with music and final scene of fireworks.
“From White Night’s perspective we are very happy with our annual cooperation with Kvant Show Production and with their technological design, and the premiere of PR AQUA Beam 580 which demonstrated perfectly the magnificent New Year’s Eve panorama of our city.”