Cologne-based motion design and show development studio, visualprime, is used to doing things on a large scale, and Hannover’s Fairground Festival of electronic music is no exception. The second iteration of this relatively new festival – already classed as Germany’s third-largest indoor festival – took place in the cavernous spaces of the Hannover exhibition halls hosting 40,000 partygoers over two remarkable days.
A line up of top international EDM acts included headliners Paul Kalkbrenner, Ben Böhmer, Jan Blomqvist, Stephan Bodzin, ArtBat, Camelphat and Charlotte de Witt. visualprime Lighting Designer, Tobias Reinartz, employed over 100 Ayrton fixtures to inject dynamism, colour and striking linear arrays across the stage and dance floor, choosing 84 laser-sourced Cobra fixtures rigged overhead throughout the hall for dramatic beam effects, and 20 Ayrton Khamsin fixtures as a floor package for the acts.
“I chose Khamsin for the floor package as we needed a bright spot with gobos that do nice aerial looks even in narrow beam angles,” explained Reinartz. “We also needed a beam light with fantastic colour mixing that was also capable of powerful gobo and prism effects onto the audience. Cobra could do all of this, but it was the sheer power of the Cobra beam that was the main decider. We were able to create multiple beams looks throughout the whole 120m by 120m arena from a height of approximately eight metres. They looked amazing en masse, and despite the throw distances, we were never in danger of running out of power, no matter what ideas we put into being! I believe there is pretty much no alternative to Cobra – it’s impossible to think of more variations and combinations you can do without them. I am witless happy!”
The next Fairground Festival will return to Hannover in November 2024. The Cobra and Khamsin fixtures were supplied by Czech-based High Light Touring whom the LD describes as “an outstanding company! “They are really creative in finding good solutions to anything we need,” Reinartz concluded.
