Denmark’s ancient city of Viborg in central Jutland is one of the country’s oldest, with Viking settlements there dating back to the eighth century. Each year in June the streets, squares and parks become energised with Snapsting, a 10-day annual festival, organised by the city to bring entertainment, arts, culture, sport and music to the country.
The three main entertainment stages this year were equipped with Robe moving lights provided by rental company Lystek, headed by the Kristoffer Neilsen, one of the country’s well known theatre LDs. Neilsen delivered and coordinated full technical production for the event, with Lystek supplying lighting to almost the entire festival.
Around 260 performances and activities, mostly free, were on show at this year’s festival, catering to every taste and demographic. A historical festival that was re-started in 2013 after a somewhat lengthy hiatus of 200 years, Snapsting has grow exponentially since its revival and now pulls around 70,000 people into Viborg alongside its 45,000 residents.
The main entertainment stage was located in the town square – Domkirkepladsen – adjacent to Viborg’s elegant Cathedral and ran a full band programme for the final three evenings of the festival, with popular Danish artists such as Almost AC/DC, Peter Og De Andre Kopier, Lis Sorensen and Sannes Bedse performing.
Lighting was co-ordinated by Johan Kvartborg, who used eight Robe MMX Spots, 12 ROBIN 100 LEDBeams, two ColorStrobes and four ROBIN 600 LEDWashes to illuminate the large saddlespan structure that covered the audience. All of these were run via wireless DMX.
The Robe ColorStrobes were rigged on the back truss and used to blast out across the audience, also doubling up as wash lights. PAR 64’s were used for front and side lighting, with 2-lite moles on the front truss for audience interaction.
The overhead rig stayed the same throughout the final weekend due to a lack of time for changes or re-rigs, though some bands brought in floor packages that also had to be incorporated.
Just up the street in another square, the Nytorv Stage was set up, with a 32-metre diameter circular Skyliner roof system from Dansk Mobilscene enveloping the audience. Running the lights for this smaller stage was Jesper Levin, who had eight 100 Robe LEDBeams and four Pointes at his disposal. Illuminating the Skyliner structure were eight 600 LEDWashes.
Around some of the other stages, Lystek deployed more Robes, including ROBIN DLS Profiles, more Pointes and LEDBeams.
“It’s a great honour to be the technical supplier and to deliver great production values to help the city provide a great event for everyone,” said Kristoffer Neilsen, who coordinated a technical team of 15 for the event. “It’s not so much about the volume of production, it’s about creating nice atmospheres and spaces around the city.”
Other suppliers of sound, lighting and structures for Snapsting included Dansk Lyd og Lys, Puk Rentals, Dansk Mobilscene and Power Rent.